I want to be with you
by evietan
Summary: Roy's majorly crushing on Dick and he finally gets to have a date with the acrobat. As time passes, will their relationship work out?
1. Holding Hands

A/N: So this was supposed to be the first thing for the 30 Day Challenge but I realized I couldn't finish it, like ever, but I think there will be at least one more chapter to get across half of the ideas and awesome headcanon I have created around this in my mind. But that's why this chapter sort of revolves around holding hands :D

This takes place one and a half year after the end of season one, so Dick is 15 and Roy is 20 :)

Warnings: slash. But it's just fluff. Also, Roy is probably a little OoC in here, but I like him like that, I just can't stop imagining it. Sorry.

It's rated T because Roy is lusting after underage butt very briefly, because there can't be a fanfic with Dick in a romantic relationship without a mentioning of his butt. It's like a rule of nature, sorry.

Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice. If I did, there'd be a third season instead of this fanfic.

Also, this is my OTP. There needs to be more of it.

* * *

_Today is the day._

Roy stood nervously in front of the mirror. He suspiciously eyed his hair that he had fixed with gel to look just the right amount of messy to look cool and not like he'd just fallen out of bed. He reluctantly deemed it okay and then moved on to his clothing. He wore a black tank top that showed off his abs and an open red shirt over it. Then his usual shorts and chucks and his outfit was completed with a leather bracelet. He tried to view the outfit as a whole. Did he look cool? He'd never really bothered thinking about when guys looked good or lame...

"Will you _stop_ looking in the mirror already?", came Artemis' voice from behind him. She laid completely relaxed on his bed, along with a pile of clothes Roy had considered wearing. "You worry more about your outfit than I did when I had my first date with Wally, and I'm a girl. I told you, you look great. Stop acting like a cliché gay and get going or you're gonna be late." Why had he called her over again? If only Kaldur were more familiar with fashion... But sadly, the Atlantean knew even less about cool clothing styles than Roy, since Atlantean fashion differed quite a bit from the surface worlds. And except for Wally (who'd also be a horrible fashion guide), no one else knew of his date.

_His date. _Oh god. Today he'd have his first date with Dick Grayson. It had already cost him all of his courage to ask him out and now he was super nervous he'd totally screw up, like he screwed up that conversation...

* * *

He tied the last goon up and turned to Nightwing, who had just finished calling the police. Now Blüdhaven had about twenty arms dealers less to worry about. Neither of them had suffered any injury that was worse than a small bruise or a scratch, so all in all, it was a very effective and successful mission. When they heard the police arriving, both young heroes made their way out of the warehouse through a small window. They climbed on the roof and watched as the police arrested the dealers and secured the evidence.

"Good job. It's always nice working with you." Red Arrow took the hand Nightwing offered him and smiled. "Same here. You'll have to tell me one day how you come up with those jokes you crack at the bad guys and how you keep them funny." Nightwing let out his trademark cackle at that comment and let go of Roy's hand. "I'm just naturally funny, I guess." Usually, this was the moment where Red Arrow said his goodbye, went to the nearest zeta-tube and zeta'd home to Star City, but today, Roy had a mission in Blüdhaven as well and he wasn't about to let it go and say nothing.

But his mouth wouldn't move. So he just stood awkwardly on that warehouse rooftop without replying. Nightwing eyed him for a while, waiting if something would come, and when Roy didn't move or speak, he just decided to go home and hit the showers. "Well then...", he started with a smile and began turning around to leave, waving a short goodbye with his hand. That shook Roy out of his trance.

"Wait!" The raven haired hero turned back to face Roy again, a questioning look on his face. "I, uhm... wanted to ask you something... Dick." The younger hero gave him an encouraging look. Since this was obviously a personal question - if it would've been about the job, Roy would've called him Nightwing - he had always time for his friend.

"I, uh... would you... Are you free on Saturday?" Dick thought about it for a short while. "Well, I promised Jason to train with him in the morning and then have lunch at the manor... But after that, I'm free. School's on summer break, after all." Roy beamed. "Great!" Damn, that came out a little too happy... He'd just have to keep talking to cover it up. "So, uh... I thought, maybe we could... get some ice cream together... or something like that." He should stop stuttering. Dick was already bat-analyzing his weird behaviour, he could see it despite his mask. "Um...", Roy continued as Dick didn't answer immediately, "just the two of us, you know...?"

Dick smirked. The bat-analysis was over, now he probably knew exactly what Roy wanted and why he acted the way he did. "Sure", he answered, "why not? So, how about we have our date at Happy Harbor? There's an ice cream parlor that beats any in Gotham and Blüdhaven."

"Okay", Roy agreed readily. Then he realized Dick had called it a date. Of course, that was Roy's intention, but he hadn't said it, so... Did that mean Dick was okay with their meeting being a date instead of just some friendly hanging out together? He tried to find out by studying the young hero's expression, but that smirk didn't really tell him anything and he couldn't see his eyes... Damnit. It wasn't fair that he apparently was an open book for Nightwing, while Dick remained a total mystery to him.

"So, meet me at 4pm at the cave?" Roy nodded stupidly. He really should pay more attention to the conversation and less to his own thoughts. "Perfect! See you then." And with that, Nightwing turned, pulled out his grappling gun and swung to the next rooftop. Roy looked after him, eyes fixated on that beautiful butt of his. Fifteen-year-olds shouldn't be allowed to have butts like that. Seriously. He only snapped back to reality when Nightwing was already out of sight.

Yup, he totally messed up that conversation.

* * *

"If you don't move soon, you're really gonna be late, you know that?" Artemis' comment brought him out of his thoughts. He gave a quick glance to his cell phone and realized she was right. He knew he invited her over for a reason, after all. With one last look in the mirror, he quickly grabbed his keys and wallet while shoving Artemis in the direction of the front door. He had just stepped out of the apartment when he realized that he forgot his sunglasses, so he hurried back inside, threw them on and sprinted outside again.

"You should _really_ stop being so nervous, Roy", Artemis sighed. "You're going out with Dick, remember? That little devil probably already knows every embarrassing or stupid thing you ever did in your life and he's still willing to take up with you. So basically, no matter how much you screw up today, he'll already know how much worse you did and won't mind." The two archers walked to the next zeta-tube together, since Artemis planned a girls' afternoon and possibly night out with M'gann. Roy wasn't sure if her little "pep talk" made him feel better or want to run back to his apartment and hide forever.

They reached the abandoned phone booth way too soon for the redhead's liking. He wasn't prepared. But then again, he also couldn't wait anymore. He'd tried to work up the courage to ask Dick out on a date for a few months and right now, just a quick zeta-trip away, he'd actually _have _a date with his favorite bird. That thought brought a smile to his face and he zeta'd to Mt. Justice after Artemis.

_"Recognized: Red Arrow B06"_

Roy heard the computer announce his arrival as he stepped into the main hall of the mountain. Superboy and Aqualad had trained together, but were now turning around to greet the two archers. Dick was sitting between M'gann and Jason on the floor, watching them sparring. Dick obviously tried to study their moving patterns in order to keep his winning streak going - even after two years of training by Black Canary, nobody on the team had managed yet to have that fail sign appear with Nightwing lying on his back. The guy just always landed on his feet or - if his feet weren't available - he landed on his hands. Sort of like a cat. Miss Martians eyes were lingering on Superboy's abs, not caring that much at all about the actual fight. Jason just looked grumpy. Roy didn't know the new Robin good enough yet to figure out if he actually was in a bad mood or if this was just his general expression.

Dick sprung to his feet and lunged at Roy, pulling him into a hug. Looking up to the redhead, he grinned. "Hey Roy." The archer immediately noticed the lack of sunglasses on those way too shiny blue eyes. He spotted them resting on top of the teen's head, but couldn't really move his glance away from Dick's eyes. "Hi", he replied, blush already beginning to creep over his face, along with a nervous smile.

"So, shall we get going?" Well, Roy didn't exactly crave being in the cave any longer with Kaldur trying to inconspicuously send him encouraging looks (and failing on the inconspicuous part), Artemis grinning at him and Robin staring at him with what seemed to be the first attempts on a batglare from the baby bird. "Sure", he replied. They waved their goodbyes to the team and left the cave in the direction of Happy Harbor.

On the short walk through the forest, he mainly listened to Dick talking about whatever came to the acrobat's mind. Roy used the time to check what the younger hero was wearing. Dick had moved the sunglasses over his eyes as soon as they had stepped out of the cave. The sun was really bright, especially after the relatively dim light in the cave. He wore a black t-shirt with the Nightwing sign on it ("It's called hiding in plain sight, Bruce.") and a pair of shorts that was tight enough to compliment his butt but not too tight to look weird, as well as sweatbands.

They had just reached the city and Dick was telling him about how he first introduced Wally to Barbara, when Roy noticed. Two, no... three people were following them. He couldn't spot them, but they were doing a shitty job at keeping quiet. A questioning look to Dick and a curt nod and he knew, he noticed them too. When they reached a more crowded area, Dick suddenly grabbed his hand and started running. The acrobat pulled him straight ahead through the crowd for a while and made a sharp turn to the right into a side alley. They crouched into the employee entrance of a shop and waited. It didn't take too long until they saw Artemis running past their hideout, followed by M'gann and... Jason?

"What the hell is Jason doing here? He didn't exactly strike me as the overprotective brother" Roy whispered, but Dick merely shrugged in response. "How would I know? Maybe Artemis thinks of this as a great team bonding exercise or Batman sent him or he wants to be a brat and ruin this or something..." They waited a while longer, then left their hiding spot only to break out in a laughing fit. The adrenaline of running and hiding, combined with this awkward situation, was just too much. But at least, the awkward tension was gone from Roy's body as they made their way to the ice cream parlor Dick had suggested. They joked around a lot and the redhead felt this natural happiness bubble up in his stomach again that had made him fall for the younger teen in the first place. It just made him feel comfortable an at ease. So much at ease actually, that he took a while to understand why the waitress gave them a knowing look when she welcomed them.

_Oh_. They were still holding hands.

Luckily he had to let go when they were sitting down, so his hand didn't get a chance to become sweaty. He had liked the feeling of Dick's hand in his own though. It just felt... _right_, however stupid that may sound.

After having ice cream together - which was fantastic, Dick had been right - they went to the beach. They had decided to wet their feet a little to escape the heat, but somehow it turned into a full-fledged splashing fight that left both of them dripping wet from head to toe. But they had a ton of fun, so Roy figured none of that really mattered.

They took the way over the beach back to the mountain, just walking side by side without talking, but still content. Roy gulped hard, gathering up courage, and grabbed Dick's hand again. He was rewarded with a joyful fluttering of his heart as the raven-haired boy intertwined their fingers and moved a little closer. Roy wished this moment could last forever, just the two of them walking across the beach with the waves washing softly around their feet and the two of them linked by their hands...

However, they eventually had to reach their destination and stood awkwardly in front of the cave entrance, not really wanting to end this. The archer decided that now was the time to make his move. The moment wasn't perfect, he was still dripping wet and his clothes stuck to him in a weird way, the sun at 7:00 pm in July was still far too high up to call it a romantic sunset and there was a stone that pressed uncomfortably into one of his still bare feet. But it was now or never. Since his right hand was still occupied holding Dick's, he grasped him by the shoulder with his left hand, turning him a bit so they were facing each other. Feeling he was about to chicken out, he bent down swiftly, closed his eyes and pressed his lips against Dick's.

The young vigilante seemed startled and didn't respond to the kiss, going completely stiff instead. Roy was about to pull back and utter a very awkward apology when he finally felt movement against his lips and a shy hand on his hip. Roy laid his arm around the younger teen's shoulder and pulled him closer, still kissing him softly with their hands entwined and their bodies close. Now _this _moment could last forever.

"Awwwwww~" Well, minus Artemis cooing at them from the cave entrance.


	2. Secret Identity

A/N: Hey, a new chapter :) It's kinda short and you already know most of what is said during this chapter, but I wanted to show Roy's reaction. Sorry if it's lame, next chapter will be completely new stuff again.

This takes place during the episode 'Performance' of season one, so keep in mind chapter one hasn't happened yet.

* * *

There is a mole on the team, Roy is sure of it. Perfectly sure. That's why he's here, in this stupid circus that's probably just a disguise for some low-level criminals, shooting sparkling arrows around, purposely not hitting Robin and Miss Martian. It annoyed him a little, arrows were made to hit something and his always did so why did he have to shoot beside the target on purpose?

Sure, logically he knew he couldn't hit anything because he would hit his friends... Well, one friend and one possible mole, but he wouldn't attack until he had proof of her exactly betraying the team. After all, Superboy and Artemis were just as likely suspects. ...And Robin kept reminding him to keep an open mind.

But none of that was what set him on edge. No, what really annoyed him was the way this Mr. Haly kept looking at Robin, especially during their performances, but also during their free time. Heck, he even caught him opening the door to their shared trailer in the middle of the night and looking at the young teen with that creepy smile on his face. With his friendly-uncle-behavior, the guy just screamed 'pedophile'.

The only thing that annoyed him even more was Robin's reaction to it. He talked a lot with Mr. Haly, always smiling at him or looking back when he was swinging on the trapeze. He walked right into the trap! That just wasn't right, Robin was supposed to be the smart, deceiving one that could look right through every scheme. Sure, Robin could defend himself, but what if Haly guilt-tripped him or promised him information or something. Roy was worried sick.

And Robin just _didn't see it._

_At all._

It was driving Roy mad. He decided to accompany the little acrobat after their next performance and as expected, Haly crossed their path and started a friendly chatter with 'Dan'. Roy just stood there grumpily and when couldn't stand those looks he just blurted out angrily "Mind telling me _why _you keep staring at him like that, creep?"

"Dane!" Robin hissed, but he focused on Haly, who looked a little taken aback. But he soon found his smile again. "Oh, he just reminds me of these amazing trapeze artists we had in this circus for quite a while, the Flying Graysons."

Roy wasn't about to take this answer seriously, because it was a really shitty excuse. But Robin beat him to the reply. "Thanks, Mr. Haly. That means a lot to me." And he had this really happy smile plastered on his face like it _actually _meant a lot to him and Roy just couldn't figure out why.

He got pulled away by the wrist before he could say anything more to Haly though, so he just decided to talk with Robin about it. "Seriously? You're just gonna believe that you remind him of some random acrobats that belonged to this circus at one point in time? Haven't you seen how he always looks at you with this creepy smile plastered on his face?"

"They weren't just _some random acrobats_!" Huh? Robin sounded really hurt. Roy had never heard of these people before and that wasn't even his point, but the younger hero looked like he was seething with anger. "Okay, okay" he put his hands up defensively "I'm sorry."

Robin's shoulder sank and he sighed. "No, I'm sorry, I overreacted. I just..." He ran a hand through his hair. "It's complicated." Wow, that said absolutely nothing. Except that Roy probably didn't even have the slightest idea what this was about, even though he thought he did. He wasn't gonna take something general like that as an answer.

"You know what, if you want to, I can explain it to you. It's kinda a long story, but if it keeps you from hating Mr. Haly... And I wanted to tell you anyway for a while now. I told Wally too, after all." Now, Roy was sure he was missing out on a crucial point. "Tell me what?" Robin started walking and Roy just followed after him, unsure where he was leading him.

"Who I am."

That made the archer stop dead in his tracks. "Who you are? Like, your secret identity? What's got that to do with anything? And what about Batman?" That was the last thing he expected. So this whole thing was... personal? He hurried after his friend, now _really _curios about the explanation.

"Yeah, my secret ID." Robin stopped in front of a poster of the Flying Graysons. They were behind the trailers, shielded from any view. Still, Roy was surprised when Robin took off his mask, making him really able to look into his shining blue eyes for the first time. "My name is Richard John Grayson. Friends call me Dick." Roy blinked stupidly. He wondered why he hadn't gone with 'Dick Danger' then, the goal was just alliterations... Then he processed the important part of what had just been said. Grayson? "Like...?" He dumbly pointed at the poster.

"Yes, Grayson like the Flying Graysons." Dick took a deep breath before he started talking. "I was born here in this circus and I've been practicing on the trapeze with my parents for as long as I can think. I joined the act of the Flying Graysons, famous for the quadruple summersault and their performance without the safety of a net when I was five. My mother always said I reminded her of a Robin because it looked like I was flying through the air."

Roy could practically see the nostalgia welling up in Dick's eyes at that statement. "So this is why you call yourself Robin?" "Exactly. I don't have much left from my parents except for my skills and that name..." Now Roy could clearly see deep sadness in the young hero's eyes. Maybe that was why he hid them? Because they showed this many emotions?

"When I was nine, the circus stayed in Gotham for a while. A gang leader called Tony Zucco wanted protection money from the circus, but Mr. Haly refused, not wanting to get involved in shady things like that and didn't even back down when Zucco threatened his artists. So they sabotaged the trapeze and it snapped during the performance that evening. Since we never used a net, I watched my parents fall to their death that night."

Dick had to make a short break after this, trying to recollect himself after telling something this emotional. Roy couldn't believe his ears. His little friend had lived through something this horrible? He had always thought Robin's life must have been way better than his own, because he was constantly laughing or smiling and just generally happy. He'd thought he did the hero stuff because he was Batman's son. A tragic back-story like that didn't fit the happy kid he met at all.

Suddenly he felt like hugging his friend, but it would probably come out really awkward, so he just settled for a mumbled "Sorry." Dick already had a smile on his face again. It hadn't reached his eyes, but the teen seemed ready to continue the story.

"I overheard Zucco threatening Haly, so I decided to go talk to the police. It was a dumb plan, because the police was receiving money from Zucco, but I didn't know better. Luckily, Batman stopped me. That's how I first met him. I thought he was scary, but it turned out he was really understanding. You know, at first I was hell-bent on killing Zucco, I wanted revenge, because he ruined my life. But Batman stopped me, he took me in, taught me how to fight and helped me bring Zucco to justice. That was my first case as Robin."

Dick seemed to be glad that he could talk about some fond memories now, but something was bugging Roy. "You know, this whole story seems oddly familiar, like I've heard it before..." Dick merely shrugged. "Well, it was all over the news four years ago. After all, it's not every day that an orphaned circus boy gets taken in by billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne..."

"Huh? But you just said Batman..." He received a clear Are-you-really-that stupid-or-are-you-kidding-me-look. "Oh. So, _Bruce Wayne_ is..."

"You know nothing, Roy. Especially not from me."

The archer grinned at that. "What do I don't know?" Dick grinned back. "You got it."

Then he continued. "See, Mr. Haly recognized me. He doesn't know I'm Robin, but he knows I'm not Dan Danger. It was just his way of telling me. And I _know _he wouldn't get involved in anything shady. My parents died because of that. That's why we're here, I need to prove that Uncle Haly has nothing to do with that."

Well, that actually made sense. It explained why Robin kept defending the circus director even though he didn't have any proof of his innocence. And it gave the looks Haly was giving Robin a complete new meaning too.

"I'm sorry. For accusing Haly when I had no idea what was going on." He just hoped Dick wasn't too angry at him for thinking so badly of a person he probably saw as family. "It's okay, you just said it yourself, you had no idea what's going on." Dick smiled at him, then put his mask back on, becoming Robin once again.

"Now, let's get back to the others." Roy followed his friend, feeling extremely privileged to learn this much about the acrobat, who didn't give away his trust and his secrets away easily.

He wasn't sure later anymore, but this may have been the first time his stomach fluttered happily because of Dick Grayson.


	3. Getting Closer

A/N: Wow, this has gotten longer than I planned it to be and it's still far from everything I wanted to have in this chapter. There's also less Roy/Dick in here than I would like. But whatever, as I said before, I'm trying to write down my headcanon, so there's bound to be lots of stuff :D

Warnings: Implying of human trade, prostitution and underage drinking (if you count 19 as underage for that. Seriously, WTF, America?)

Also has hints at Spitfire and Ollie/Dinah

This still takes place before chapter one, but it starts in November, so ten months and something have passed since season one ended.

* * *

Roy slumped down on the couch, exhausted and frustrated. Another dead end. Batman had found a facility of the light that Cadmus seemed to have relations too, but by the time they had arrived, it was already abandoned. The light had been thorough, no traces whatsoever were left behind. After ten months, they still had found nothing that even indicated that the original Roy was still alive. And their options were slowly beginning to run out.

And he was hungry. He should have thought about that _before _he sat down, now he had to get up again to get something from his fridge. What he wouldn't give for Miss Martian's telekinesis right now... He heaved himself up and walked to his kitchen counter, only to find the fridge empty. Great. Just _great._

Sighing, he went to get his phone and some cereal to eat until his pizza would be arriving. He flopped down on the couch again and had just started dialing the number when his doorbell rang. Meaning he had to get up _again. _Today was not his doorbell never rang except for when someone brought food he ordered. God, if this was a prank, he'd murder the kids. Then at least nobody would ever pull a prank like that on him again.

But instead of some laughing kids peeking around the corner, he got a superhero in civilian clothes who looked like he had been crying, judging by his red eyes.

Roy looked at his friend dumbfounded for a while, but remembered he had to do something when Dick tried to smile at him (and failed, it looked more like a grimace). "Come in." He moved to the side, giving the acrobat the space to do so. Not that he needed it, technically, but Roy didn't like being rude to his friends, especially when they were obviously not in the mood to fool around.

Once Robin had sat down on the couch, Roy asked "What happened?" There wasn't much that could upset the young hero this much. In fact, he'd never seen him cry. The guy saw corpses and traumatized children every day, so there was basically nothing about the job that could send the acrobat into such a state. Which meant this was personal, not necessarily making this any better. God, had anything happened to Batman or Alfred or Wally or Mr. Haly or generally anyone on the team or the League?

The younger teen didn't answer, only staring at his couch table, eyes fixated on a ring that was probably left from a beer can Roy had emptied. After a while Roy spoke up again. I was just about to get some pizza when you got here. Do you want some too? Robin?" Dick bit his lip at this and suddenly, the tears started welling up in his eyes again, running down his cheeks.

The archer panicked. He wasn't prepared for this! Had he said something wrong? "Um... if you want something else, that's okay too..." Okay, that was the least likely part to be the problem, but Robin's lips curled up a little at this, so Roy decided it was worth it. "A-Anything's fine, really. Thanks." The acrobat tried to wipe the tears from his face but was rather unsuccessful due to the new tears that kept staining his cheeks.

Roy went to his bedroom to make the phone call, not because he didn't want Robin to hear, but to give his friend time to collect himself a little.

When he returned to the living room, Robin had pulled his knees up to his chest and the tears were already falling in a slower pace. Roy dropped next to his friend. He'd regret this as soon as he'd have to get up again to get the pizzas, but it was the only position where he wouldn't look weird not looking at Robin.

It took about one minute until he heard a voice peaking up at his side. "Sorry for this." Roy snorted. "It's okay. What kind of friend would I be if you couldn't crash with me?" Though he did wonder why the teen had come to him. Sure, they were friends, but Wally was way closer to him and would definitely offer him a place to sleep and some food as well. Probably better, homemade food.

"It's just... I thought maybe you'd understand. I'm... I'm not Robin anymore."

"What?!" Roy didn't manage to get a coherent thought out. "Why?" Rob- Dick wasn't the type to just walk out on his mentor on a whim like Roy had. Heck, nobody did just walk out on Batman, not even Superman. And even if he was mad at Bruce, there would be no reason to sound so... final about not being Robin, like there was no way to fix it or like he didn't want to anymore.

Dick gritted his teeth. "I got fired." Wow, Dick wasn't just upset and sad, he was also _seething _with anger. But Roy was more occupied with processing the fact that _Batman _had _fired Robin. _That just didn't seem right. He could see Flash firing KidFlash because he got too annoying, he could see Aquaman firing Aqualad because of some stupid law or something, he could see Green Arrow firing Artemis because she kept disobeying him, he could see Icon firing Rocket because she was too cocky, he could... Well, that were enough examples.

But he'd never expected Batman to fire Robin. Nobody worked together like they did. They were the Caped Crusaders, the Dynamic Duo... No other hero had ever bothered to come with a name for the team-up with his sidekick, right? Ollie sure didn't. That aside, they were as close as father and son. Robin was the only emotional weak spot from Batman Roy had ever found. They just belonged together, it was always Batman and Robin.

The archer tried to come up with an answer for that, but he couldn't decide if he wanted to ask why or if he wanted to comfort Robin or if any of that would help his friend at all. So he just settled on laying his arms around Dick, pulling him into an awkward hug. He felt a little helpless, but at least he seemed to be doing something right, because the acrobat cuddled a little closer to him and buried his face on Roy's shoulder, slowly calming down.

Roy had been soothingly stroking the other's back for a while when their pizza arrived. Dick let go of Roy by himself. The archer was relieved to see that the crying had stopped completely by now, even though he could still see the stains. When they finally got to eat, Roy finally found out what had brought his friend to him.

Batman and Robin had been tracking down a human trade ring for a while now when Batman had been called for a League emergency. He told Robin to do the last research on his own, but to not make a move until he'd be back. Robin had really planned on doing so, until he found out that there would be a shipment leaving Gotham that evening to god-knows-where with about a hundred people. Batman wouldn't be back in time for that, so Robin had alerted the commissioner and Batgirl and sent them their data to simultaneously attack the ship and the various hideouts over the city.

All in all, it had been a great success, with about 200 people freed from slavery and prostitution and most of the ring's members and leaders getting arrested. Nobody died, one policeman got seriously injured and Robin and a few other policemen had some light injuries. The big boss and a few thugs had gotten away though, probably due to a mole inside the police.

Batman had been furious, not so much because of the outcome of the mission - it bugged him the big boss had gotten away though - but mostly because Robin had disobeyed a clear order from him, endangering himself and many others. And not for the first time.

Similar situations had been occurring for a while now, but had been mostly without consequences because Batman was aware his ward was going through puberty at the time and had been relatively lenient. But apparently, Dick had gone too far this time. They got into a heated argument that ended with Dick being fired from his role of Robin and angrily running out, wandering aimlessly for a while until he got tired, then zeta-ing to Star City to find Roy.

And it made sense, kind of. These fights were pretty similar to the ones the archer had with his own mentor. He'd understand better than Wally who basically never fought with his uncle.

"Seriously, I don't see where his problem is! I knew the risks, I calculated my actions, I didn't get really hurt. Maybe my plan wasn't perfect, but the lives of a hundred people were at stake! I know he'd done the exact same thing if he'd been there! I'm not a baby or a beginner anymore, I don't need him to watch everything I do. I've been doing this for five years now, dammit!"

By the time they had finished their pizzas, Dick was merely ranting. Roy let him, the teenager had to get rid of all that anger inside him somehow. He'd feel much better tomorrow morning, just like Roy felt better after he ranted Ollie's newest offense to Kaldur.

Dick eventually got tired and Roy offered him his bed, but the acrobat insisted on sleeping on the couch. So Roy handed him a tooth brush that he hadn't opened yet and went to sleep in his bed.

When he woke up the next morning - if you could count 11:30 am as morning - he found Dick had made him pancakes. Fucking _pancakes. _It had been an eternity since Roy had last had pancakes for breakfast. Also, his apartment looked a lot cleaner since it was missing empty cans and takeout packages. The dirty clothing was in different piles - sorted by color - beside the washing machine that was already rattling with the first load of laundry. He found Dick dusting/cleaning his living room. Roy couldn't even remember the last time he had dusted anything in his apartment. Had he ever dusted things here?

"Good morning, Roy", Dick greeted him with a smile, seemingly back to his old, cheery self. Ranting did wonders. Roy just walked up to him and pulled him into a bear hug. "Thank you, Dick. I'll love you forever for those pancakes. Do you want to be my wife?" The younger hero chuckled against his chest. "Maybe you should taste them before you propose to me, I'm not exactly used to cooking either. Also, don't you think it's kinda... antiquated to choose your wife because of household skills?"

"I don't care." Roy dismissed his argument. But he went to eat the pancakes anyway, and they weren't half bad. Better than the ones he made himself. "You know, you really didn't have to do this. I don't charge my friends for helping them." Dick shrugged. "I guessed, but I've been up since nine and I didn't wanna go back home, so I just decided I'd do something useful..." Roy nodded. He really appreciated this, especially the pancakes. Wait, something didn't seem right with that... "How did you even make these. I looked yesterday, my fridge was empty."

"Oh yeah, I found that out too, so I just took some of your cereal for breakfast. But there wasn't really anything left, so I went grocery shopping. Don't worry, I paid with my own - well, Bruce's - money" His lips curled into a smirk at that, it was satisfying for him to have access to Bruce Wayne's bank account even though Bruce didn't want him to. Not that he'd really be bothered by the money Dick had spent, but still. "I didn't know how much money you have, so I didn't want to accidentally spend too much and Bruce just has way too much of it anyway..."

"It's okay, really, thanks." Then a suspicion settled in Roy's stomach. How could you possibly spend 'too much money' on pancake ingredients? He slowly rose and peeked into his fridge. There, suspicion confirmed. The fridge was full. With lots of tasty, healthy and expensive looking stuff. He'd probably find stuff like noodles and bread as well if he looked into his kitchen counter. Seemed like he could live without takeout for a while.

He went over to Dick and hugged him again. For good measure.

It was Saturday and Roy didn't have anything to do, so he spent the day with Dick. They cleaned up some more together, Roy insisted to make lunch for them - which turned out surprisingly well - and they ate it together while watching some dumb afternoon sitcom on TV.

After that, they began to think realistically about Dick's situation. He didn't have the luxury of being a legal adult like Roy meaning he had to go to school and wasn't allowed to work, meaning he depended on Bruce financially and legally. He had to go home sooner or later, but Dick intended to come back with a plan. If he'd come back without exact expectations of what he wanted to do, Bruce would just make him unsure and talk him out of it.

Thus far, the plan was this: Dick would move out and go to a boarding school in Blüdhaven (financially supported by Bruce) and start a solo crime-fighting career there, under a new, not-yet-decided name. He'd get the money for the suit and equipment himself. Just like he'd get suit and equipment by himself. Maybe Lucius would help him? He'd take a break from the team and take some time to establish his new identity, then rejoin. He liked being on the team way too much to give that up, even if it meant that Batman had some sort of power over his work.

He also didn't completely object to working with Batman, even though he didn't have much hope for Bruce to acknowledge him as an equal instead of a sidekick, which would be his condition for that.

First of all, he called the team. He had ditched all communicators because they had tracking devices in them. But Roy had plenty of them since they broke rather easily. Aqualad had already contacted Roy before, asking him to help find Robin. Roy had agreed, because Dick had motioned for him not to tell them he was there, fearing they might tell Batman.

So they stood awkwardly with the earpieces in place, calling them together. Dick gave a short nod, then Roy tapped his earpiece. "Red Arrow to cave, do you copy?"

"Aqualad here, yes. Did you find him?" Kaldur sounded really worried and it made both of them feel a little guilty for not telling their friends sooner.

"Well, saying I found him wouldn't be quite right, but he's with me." Dick tapped his earpiece now as well. "Hi~" he chimed in. Aqualad sighed in relief, and then suddenly the whole team was in on the conversation.

"Dude, where were you, we were worried sick!" Wally sounded even more relieved than Kaldur.

"You were the one who told me not to ditch my comm., remember?" Conner sounded a little angry.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Zatanna. Still worried about him, even after the awkwardness the new year's kiss had brought.

"We heard what happened from Batman. Is there anything we can help you with, Robin?" Dick decided to start answering the questions after M'gann's offer. "Well, first of all, it's not Robin anymore, but you already know that, right? Just call me Dick."

"Dude!", Wally interrupted him, "That's your real name! You just told them!" Dick just let out an exasperated sigh, trying to signal Wally how stupid he acted. "Yes, I know what my real name is, you genius. It's Richard Grayson, actually. I just decided to tell them."

He could hear Artemis chuckle over the comm. link. "And to answer your questions, I'm fine, I'm at Roy's apartment and I didn't ditch my comm. to make you guys unable to find me, but Batman. Sorry."

"So, Rob- Dick, does that mean you will leave the team?" Roy rolled his eyes, that was typical for Kaldur, always straight to business, no time for his feelings. Dick hesitated a little before he answered.

"Yes." Roy could hear the whole team simultaneously taking in sharp breaths, then everyone started talking at the same time. Wow, Dick really seemed to be important to all of them. He didn't really get any full sentences, but basically, they were asking Dick why or tried to convince him otherwise. When it didn't stop, Aqualad ordered them to silence.

"If that is what you wish, we will respect it." Kaldur didn't sound exactly happy with his own decision, though. "Hey!", Wally interrupted, but a short "Ow!" followed and he kept quiet after that. Roy had to suppress a grin at that. Wally was on the best way to become a whipped husband...

"Look, guys, for now the plan is that I'll go solo and I need time for that. But if it works out and you still want me after that, I'd be happy to come back. Well, and if Batman lets me, of course. And you can always call if you need my help for anything. I definitely won't stop the job completely."

A short silence followed after that and Roy met Dick's eyes. The others were having a psychic conversation and it felt sort of weird to be left out, but they were way out of range. Luckily, the team didn't take long to answer. "Regardless of Batman's wishes, you are a part of the team, and you will always have a place here whenever you wish to return." Kaldur sounds firm and Dick is really touched. If a friend is willing to face Batman for you, you can be sure it's a real friend.

"Thanks, Kaldur... Everyone. And please, don't tell Batman anything, okay? If he didn't already overhear this, that is." Roy chuckled at this (and he wasn't the only one), that would be just like Batman, overly worried over his (former) sidekick and stalking all of his friends, regardless of the fight they had.

"Well, the line should be safe and we can delete it from the archive..." KidFlash offered. "Okay, thanks. I'll call if there's anything new." With that the conversation was over, but Artemis managed to get out a statement before they disconnected. "Roy, don't let him starve and don't feed him just junk food. Make sure he sleeps and don't give him alcohol!" Dick should be annoyed at this statement, but somehow, he just started giggling. Roy wasn't as amused. At all. "It's great to know how much faith you put in me." He disconnected, not giving her time for a snarky comeback. She made one, he could tell by the increasing of Dick's laughter, but he quickly disconnected him too to stop a conversation with him as the main pun.

They spent the afternoon together too, first searching a school for Dick, finding a private boarding school that was expensive and high-regarded enough for Bruce Wayne to send his ward there and in near proximity of Blüdhaven.

Coming up with a new superhero name was way harder. Neither of them was really good at that (Red Arrow was about the most uncreative thing Roy could have called himself) and Dick really didn't want to go as Batboy or Birdman. When the sun began to set, they gave up. 'Dinner' actually sounded better as a superhero name than some they had come up with. Like 'Rainbow Flyer'. No. Just no. It was getting ridiculous.

Roy decided to make what he always made when he didn't order takeout and didn't make pasta: He fried rice in a pan and just threw some random vegetables in. Was easy to make, tasty and even healthy. Perfect.

"You know, I'd ditch patrol for you tonight", Roy began, "but Artemis is going on some mission with the team tonight and Ollie wants to... do something important tonight, so he asked me to cover for him." Dick raised an eyebrow. He knew where Artemis was going, they had been planning the mission for quite a while. But what 'important thing' had Ollie tonight. The acrobat was naturally curious, so he kept staring at his older friend, waiting for an explanation.

"I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, but..." Well, Dick wasn't going anywhere tonight, so he wouldn't be able to slip it. "He wants to propose to Dinah tonight."

Dick's eyes went wide at that. "Oh." About a minute later, he asked: "Hey, can I come with you? On patrol." The archer blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected that, mainly because Dick wasn't any specific superhero at the time. "Um... Do you even have anything with you?" Because no matter how skilled the younger teen was, Roy wasn't about to let him fight without weapons or properly protecting clothes. The sweater Dick was wearing obviously didn't qualify. Neither was he good enough with bow and arrow to just borrow some of Roy's weaponry.

"I have this." With that, Dick grabbed under his sweater and pulled out his utility belt, holding it up for Roy to see. "And I can just borrow a mask from you, right?" Roy narrowed his eyes. "I'm not letting you go in civvies."

And so, when the two of them climbed over the rooftops of Star City that night, Dick was clad in a bright red and yellow costume with a stupid hat. Roy's costume from his beginning time as Speedy fit him perfectly. Which wasn't very surprising since he had been about the same age. But Roy was sure he hadn't looked so damn cute in it.

He actually really enjoyed that night, it was fun to work with someone for a change instead of doing everything himself and knowing there was someone to watch his back. So, when they made it back, he couldn't stop himself. "Hey, how about you change your plan and become Speedy? You could be my partner, not my sidekick. We can even add a cape to the costume if you want one." He wasn't really serious, but he couldn't help but be a little disappointed as Dick dismissed his idea.

"No, thank you. I wanna do things alone for a change." And Roy could totally understand that, so he didn't say anything about it. "But I actually really like the lack of a cape on this. I think I'm gonna go cape-less from now on." Roy grinned. "Anything else this costume made you decide about your new one?"

The acrobat grinned back. "Actually, yes. First of all, it's definitely not gonna include a hat. They just fall of at the most inopportune of times and don't really serve a purpose either." 'Speedy' really lost his hat quite often that night, Roy had to agree with that. "Also, I'm gonna stop being a living target. No red and no yellow anymore."

When they reached Roy's apartment, the archer listened to a ten-minute message on his answering machine from Ollie (main content: she said yes.) while Dick only threw the hat off and went back to the rooftop to enjoy the night air a little longer. It was damn cold (it was a November night, after all), but he didn't care all that much.

* * *

-Meanwhile, in the watchtower-

Bruce was only pretending to listen to Clark's lecture. Seriously, the guy got way too cocky just because things were getting a bit better with his 'little brother'. He was still the last person Bruce wanted parenting advice from. Especially when his son was gone without a trace and he couldn't do anything at the moment anyway.

Luckily, the boy scout was interrupted by Green Arrow arriving with a huge grin on his face. "How did it go?" Clark asked excitedly. Idiot. "She said yes." Bruce answered before Ollie even had a chance of opening his mouth. "How do you know that?" Clark asked him. Did he tell you before. Bruce just gave him an 'are-you-really-that-stupid-or-are-you-just-kidding-me-look'. "He's grinning like he's gone completely mad. Would he do that if he just got rejected by the woman he's been following like a puppy for years."

"Oh, right." Clark looked like he was ready to slap his forehead and say "Hello, Megan!" but luckily, he didn't. "I just made myself look really stupid, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did."

Ollie didn't pay attention to that. He was in a really good mood, Batman just had to try and ruin it. But not today. He had the ideal comeback. "Well, at least I have a reason to be grinning tonight. I'm not the one who just recently got ditched by his sidekick." He put on his best smug face.

"I didn't get 'ditched'", Batman growled. "I fired him from the job completely."

Now to the good part. "Oh, really? That must have been another black-haired teenage boy that I saw throwing birdarangs in a Speedy costume tonight then."

"WHAT?!" Batman immediately jumped from his seat and even though Green Arrow had fun teasing him he knew this was the point where he dropped off a last statement before making a quick exit if he wanted to survive. "Well, looked to me like he's trying to become Roy's partner now, that was some pretty neat teamwork there." And with that he walked (read: fled) from the room.

Batman dropped backed in his seat, glaring at the wall in front of him, probably wishing he had heat vision so he could destroy it just by staring at it. "Um..." Clark started, but he only got a hiss and a death-glare from his best friend. Okay. Time to follow Green Arrows example and run away. Before Bruce would try to silence him with Kryptonite.

This had gone out of hand. He needed to talk with Dick.

* * *

Tell me what you think?


	4. It's a Long Process

A/N: Hehe, after my German exam today, all I have left is one English exam and then I'll be done with school FOREVER! And since I need a good vocabulary and one of the possible topics is American heroes, I can totally claim I am studying while writing this. Yessss~

Warning: Hints of sexual fantasies including an underage person (but nothing happens)

This takes place right after the last chapter.

A special thanks goes to my reviewer Crystalbird1769. It's really motivating :)

* * *

Dick let his legs dangle off the side of the large apartment building Roy lived in. His life had gone out of control way too fast... again. He needed some time to cope with everything that happened and even though he was really grateful for Roy's help, this alone-time was just what he needed. He sighed. Didn't seem like he would get it, though.

"What do you want?" The Man of Steel himself floated around him, coming to a halt in front of him. He looked a little disappointed. "You know, one day I'm gonna sneak up on one of you. How did you even know I was there, I didn't take steps and I didn't fly against anything." Dick chuckled. Should he tell him that he had a tracer on him (which he knew) and that his belt warned him whenever he approached (which he didn't know)? Nah, way too much fun. "I have my ways of knowing."

Superman hadn't really expected a clear answer, the bats just liked seeming mysterious way too much. Even when they were in a bright red and yellow outfit. So he just ignored the answer. "Can I?" He motioned to the edge of the roof. "Can I stop you?" the teenager asked back.

He shrugged and sat down next to 'Speedy'. "Well, I'd be surprised if you didn't have a piece of Kryptonite in that belt of yours." Well... "Touché." He hated using it though, Conner was a friend and Superman was his idol, so any situation where it was of help was a unpleasant situation. He'd never use it just because he was in a bad mood.

"You didn't answer my question earlier. Did he send you? I'm not coming back that easily." Clark tried to smile at him. "Believe it or not, I'm not here because he asked me to. Actually, I'm mainly here because it is getting impossible to be around him." Oh. That was new. If anyone could live through Batman in a bad mood and come out neither physically nor emotionally scarred, it was Superman. "So you really want to become Speedy? I didn't believe it when GA said it, but..."

"Huh? Oh, the uniform..." Dick smiled sheepishly. "But no. I don't want to be Speedy. And since I'm not going to be Robin anymore, even if Bruce apologizes," Which he wouldn't. He never apologized. "I decided I'm gonna go solo. I just need a name and a costume..." Clark wasn't exactly convinced Bruce would let his ward do something like that, but from what he had gathered from Bruce's obviously one-sided explanation-rants, the boy was right to be angry at his mentor. And Batman could always use a little push at his ego. Especially from his ward, stabbing in the only place where it really hurt...

No, he didn't have any pent-up anger at his dark companion, what would make anyone think that?

That aside, this boy needed help and it was Superman's job to help people. "Hmmm, how about I tell you a story? It's about two Kryptonian heroes, called Nightwing and Flamebird..."

* * *

Dick leaned back in the huge, comfortable and expensive boss chair that belonged to Lucius Fox. The feeling was twice as asterous knowing he'd gotten in his office without anyone - including the big boss - noticing him slipping in or hacking the surveillance cameras and motion sensors.

He let a lazy grin spread over his face when Lucius entered his office to find a little acrobat sitting in his chair. He didn't seem too startled though, dealing with both Bruce Wayne and Batman, he was used to these kinds of things. "Well, if it isn't the missing boy. What gave me the honor of your presence?"

"What, you think sitting in your awesome chair isn't enough motivation for me?" Lucius laughed and ruffled through Dick's hair. He usually hated that, especially when the old ladies at Brucie's parties did that, but Lucius was an exception. "Too bad for you, you have to get up now, I need this chair to work."

The teenager obediently moved out of the way. After all, he really wasn't here for the chair. Annoying Lucius wouldn't make it any likelier for him to help Dick. The young superhero didn't really have anything to offer to such a well-paid and well-informed person, that was also close to his mentor, so his request would stand or fall due to Lucius' good will.

"Actually", he began, "I came here to ask you for help." He scratched the back of his head while trying to put on a nice smile. "Oh, really? And let me guess, the boss-man shouldn't hear about it?" Lucius smiled at him knowingly. That was the problem with people who saw you grow up, they knew you too well.

So he explained his whole situation and all of his plans. Lucius fascinatingly ditched his work and took him to the Research & Development department of Wayne Tech. He was led to a case he'd never seen before and Lucius had him promise on his parents and everything that was holy to him to not tell Bruce Lucius showed this to him. Curiosity piqued, Dick was ready to promise about anything.

He couldn't believe his eyes. There was a batsuit in front of him, which wasn't special in itself, but it seemed... wrong. It was just way smaller than the one he saw every night before patrol next to his Robin suit. Bruce would never, ever fit in this. It was built for the stature of a fourteen year old. It was built to fit Dick.

"What-?" For once in his life, the chatty bird was left speechless.

"It wasn't something he wanted you to have, ever. It was merely built for the case of an... emergency." Of course Bruce wouldn't want to have his protégé take over while he was still small enough to fit in this suit. Hell, maybe he didn't want him to take over, period. But he would let him. 'Emergency' meant Bruce's death. He'd have trusted Dick enough to let him be Batman. Had planned for it, like he planned for every contingency.

Even though he was currently angry at his mentor, even though he didn't even _want_ to be Batman, he couldn't help but feel incredibly proud. He knew how much the suit meant to Bruce, it was the core of the crusade he had dedicated his life to. This wasn't something he'd just give to anyone, not even as a contingency plan. He had let Superman wear it, temporarily, and only as a ruse, and that was it. Still...

"I don't want to be a second Batman." Lucius chuckled lightly. "I know, my friend. But this is very close to the costume you wanted, so if we just alter this, it saves us the trouble of building a completely new suit." Right. Making a superhero outfit from scratch was more trouble than most people expected, especially if you couldn't just go in jeans and a t-shirt and needed a variety of weapons integrated.

Detaching the cape was a piece of cake. Removing the bat symbol from the chest plate and replacing it with a bird proved more difficult as the surrounding pieces of Kevlar had to be altered or replaced as well. It took them a while to get the suit as flexible as the acrobat inside, but the result was worth it.

In the late afternoon, Dick was proudly standing in his new suit, deeming it flexible and light enough for him to do all sorts of flips, tricks and moves. It held enough weaponry, protected him from bullets, knives and similar weapons and it also looked damn cool.

"Thanks, Lucius" ,the new hero breathed out awestruck, "seriously, I owe you one."

"I will remember it. For now, wanna tell me what name this suit will give you?"

A huge smile spread across his face as he uttered his new name for the first time.

"Nightwing."

* * *

He went to Roy first. He still had enough time to zeta to Gotham and catch the Batman before he went on patrol and his friend had helped him so much during these past few days, Dick felt he deserved to be the first person to be introduced to Nightwing. (Lucius had helped building the suit, he didn't count. When you know too much, the magic's gone.)

He sneaked in through the window that Roy had left open. He'd thought of dramatically crashing through a closed one instead, but that was sort of too Batman and would also leave Roy with a broken window on a November night, so he decided for the sneaking up version. He'd been trained by Batman for five years. So yes, he was _really_ good at that.

Maybe a bit too good. Roy had been sitting on the couch, watching TV, but when Dick tapped him on the shoulder from behind, Red Arrow launched at him immediately. He managed to block the fist, but he found himself pinned under a heavily panting redhead, a sheepish grin on his face.

"Hi", he said, "sorry if I startled you."

He wasn't sorry, Roy could see it in his face. In his way too close face in a way too compromising position. The archer just hoped his panting and accelerated heartbeat came from the shock and sudden movement, not from the hot, tingly breath of the fourteen year old boy pinned beneath him.

He ignored the weird feeling in his stomach though, narrowing his eyes and uttering "Don't bother, I know you're not." before letting the other hero stand up. Dick presented him his outfit. "What do you think?"

Roy gave his friend a one-over. The dark Kevlar made him look more dangerous and the blue bird on the chest would be easily visible and make a good trademark sign. The outfit as a whole made him look older than he was, and, the archer had to admit, kinda hot. Uh... cool. It made his _underage_ friend look cool.

"So, what can I call this new, kick-ass looking superhero that tried to give me a heart attack?"

If possible, Dick's smile grew even wider at the praise. "Nightwing." And, even though he'd never admit it, that sounded cooler to Roy than Red Arrow. Well, too late. He held out his hand.

"I look forward to working with you, Nightwing." And Dick's smile widened. Again. It would crack his face if he wasn't careful. But it was the first time someone had called him by his new name and Roy had actually made it sound respectful, like he was a business partner. An adult. Not a sidekick. A hero.

Nightwing took the hand. "So do I, Red Arrow." Then he threw all adult-ness overboard and hugged his friend. Dick muttered a heartfelt "Thank you" into his chest. Roy hugged him back, a flush creeping over his face. Dick let go way too soon. "I gotta go, I still have to talk to Bruce..." He grimaced. Roy made a pitying grimace back. "Good luck."

* * *

Dick waved him a short goodbye, then jumped out of the window. "See ya!" Roy let out a sigh at that. "I have a door, you know!" He knew his friend had heard him when his trademark cackle reverberated through the air. The archer willed away the warm feeling that rose in his stomach. What the hell did it want there, anyway?

He wasn't crushing on his male, underage friend. He wasn't.

Nightwing wasn't surprised at all when he found Bruce in the batcave, skimming over some file on the batcomputer before getting ready for patrol. He didn't try to hide his steps, Batman would hear him anyway. The man didn't turn around though, not even when his former ward stopped behind the chair. He didn't give him any sign of acknowledgment, but Dick knew the other man had noticed and identified him.

"We need to talk." It bugged him a little, but he knew Bruce wouldn't start a conversation. If he'd just stand there, there was a huge chance he'd just be ignored until Batman went out for patrol and left him alone. Bruce finally turned. He gave Nightwing a critical look.

"What's that supposed to be, Dick?" He sounded totally calm, not even really interested. Dick knew it didn't represent the man's feelings, but it annoyed him that his mentor had to keep his mask on even during an important conversation like this.

"Nightwing", the acrobat replied, "my new superhero identity." He kept the proud grin from his face. Acting like a child wouldn't get him anywhere in this conversation, so he kept his mask on as well. All he got was a raised eyebrow. "I'm not taking you back just because you changed your name and costume."

Dick snorted. "I don't want you to take me back. I'm going solo from now on." Bruce's expression didn't change at all. "So that's why you stayed with Red Arrow." It was a statement, not a question. "Gotham doesn't need a second protector." Meaning Batman didn't want anyone to interfere with his business. Even though Gotham could use about a dozen more protectors.

"Which is why I'll move to Blüdhaven. No other hero works there and it's full of crime." Bruce hadn't expected that. It took him a millisecond too long to answer. "You really think you can just do that? That I won't be able to stop you? You can't even support yourself financially. I'm not gonna let you quit school and move out just like that, just forget it."

Dick grit his teeth. Like he hadn't thought that through. Bruce apparently still thought he was just a kid throwing a tantrum and then trying to run away from home. "If I thought I could do it alone, I wouldn't stand here and explain it to you. I need your money, and your agreement, because you're still my legal guardian. Here's the plan: I'll go to a boarding school. There's a really good one a little outside of Blüdhaven, one that has a reputation good enough for Bruce Wayne to send his ward to when he stops wanting to deal with him because he hit puberty. You'll pay for that and I take on a small job to get the money I need for my equipment myself."

That did sound like a good plan to Bruce. Except for one thing. "Why would I let you go to play hero on your own in a city that has the reputation to be more dangerous than Gotham?" Dick felt the anger swell up in his chest again. Bruce would never stop seeing him as an incompetent kid, would he? "Because I'm not _playing _hero! I won't give up crime fighting. It's part of who I am, _you _made it a part of me! If you don't let me go, I'll just continue doing it here. I can help the people there, Bruce. I can make a change. And I trained five years with you, so I won't just get shot by a random thug. I can take care of myself. But you'll never see that if you don't give me a chance to prove it."

"What about the team? Are you just going to leave them?" Bruce was running out of arguments if he was trying to guilt-trip him. Too bad that wouldn't work. "I'll leave for the time being and once I have established my new identity, I can go back to working with them. I've already talked to them, they're totally okay with it and take me back whenever I want, regardless of what you say." He couldn't keep the smile from his face at the last statement. He had some great friends.

Bruce seemed impressed, as his silence continued on even longer than the last one. Dick waited, hoping his mentor wouldn't be too stubborn or too much of a mother hen to let him go. But at least he seemed to be seriously contemplating it now. That was when Alfred entered the cave. "Ah, welcome back, Master Dick. Would you want a cup of tea as well?"

Since Alfred had already brought two cups (How did he know he was there? Sometimes, Alfred was a bigger mystery then Bruce), he didn't see any reason to say no. "Yes, thanks, Alfred." Bruce was ignoring the ongoing conversation and just picked up the last. "You're too young to be moving out by yourself", he stated, taking his cup from Alfred and seemingly seeing the conversation as closed. Dick was about to protest, but he was saved before he could.

"Master Bruce, I believe you were of about the same age when you left to start training martial arts all over the world." Yes! Alfred was on his side! The acrobat did an inner victory dance. They all knew Alfred was the one who really called the shots in Wayne Manor and if he allowed Dick to go, it was only a matter of time until Bruce gave in.

Alfred supporting the teenager really was a problem for Bruce, so he pulled his last card, the one he only ever pulled when it came to his protégé: He let his mask fall. "Dick." His eyes looked nearly pleading now. "I'm worried about you. I don't like thinking about you fighting against so many dangerous criminals by yourself. I know you've grown stronger, but it's a dangerous job, would be for anyone."

Same rights for everyone, Dick let his mask fall as well. He even pulled his domino off. "I know, Bruce. I am aware of the risks that come with moving to Blüdhaven and fighting on my own instead of with a partner or a team. But I _need _to do this, Bruce. I need to become my own person. And I won't do anything rash. If I really need help, I'll call you or the team. I know I can't solve all problems by myself. I'll be fine, really."

"Fine." Bruce finally gave in and Dick sank on the ground, releasing all the tension from his body he hadn't even been aware of.

Bruce gave him an amused half-smile, then pulled the cowl on. "Want to be Robin on patrol tonight again? One last time?" Dick smiled. That was Batman's version of an apology. "Sure."

* * *

"I can't believe him!" Roy only watched unimpressed as Dick paced around in his apartment. "Two and a half weeks! It only took him two and a half weeks to replace me with some random kid! And he lets him be Robin! That's my name! My mother called me that! I bet the little shit doesn't even know what it actually means!"

"Calm down." The archer tried his best to let his voice sound soothing. "It's not the boy's fault Bruce is as insensible as always. And Bruce probably meant it as a compliment, like Robin is the only partner Batman will ever have or something."

The acrobat sank down on the couch next to him. "I know. I'm not actually angry at Jason. If I'm honest, I even kinda like him. Had the gall to steal the tires off the batmobile. I would give a fortune to see Bruce's face when he came to his car and it was lacking some wheels." He couldn't help but grin and nod. Yes, Roy would have liked to see that too, the goddamn Batman realizing his precious car was being taken apart by some random kid...

"Maybe I'm even okay with him being Robin. It's kinda like Bruce is admitting he can't work without a partner anymore and if Batman's partner is called anything, it should be Robin. But it's just the fact that he didn't _ask._ It's my name he's given away after all, not his own. It's just that attitude that I'll be okay or at least arrange myself with anything he does..." He let himself fall to the side frustrated, his head landing on Roy's lap.

"I'm sorry for ranting to you again, it's not like it's your fault or like you can change the Batman after all..." The archer didn't mind though, he liked listening to Dick's voice, whatever he was talking about. But he wasn't exactly comfortable with the head on his lap, not after what he'd done a few nights ago with that face in mind.

So he shoved Dick back up before anything could happen. "Let's just get something to eat and then let your frustration out on some goons, that always works..."

After all, he wasn't crushing on Dick. He wasn't.

* * *

"Get your foot off my hand!" Robin complained whispering. He, Nightwing and Red Arrow were crouched together in an air vent. "Then how about you get your knee out of my gut first?" Red Arrow whispered back angrily. They glared each other, but Nightwing saw some people enter the room. "Shhhh." The two of them immediately fell silent, not wanting to be the one responsible for the failure of the mission.

The people were scientists that worked for the light, trying to recreate the fog, this time without an off-switch. They still had some data left from the last time, so there was a good chance of them being successful. That's why they were here, get the data of the new fog and then delete it along with what they had of the original one.

When they left, Nightwing checked the motion sensors. "They were the last. Let's get going." Robin yanked his hand free and eagerly took the lead. He knew how to get to the room the scientists had just come through the air vent and wanted to show off his capability to his two seniors, especially his 'older brother'.

They crawled slowly through the rather small air vents. Roy wasn't a fan of it at all. Sure, he'd felt pretty cool the first few times doing it, like he was in a movie or something. But the sad thing was, it was practical, but really uncomfortable and not exciting at all. He was usually really grateful once they got out of the stupid vents. Today, however, he had quite the nice sight. Nightwing was crawling in front of, making him perfectly able to see his butt. Or rather, making it impossible to not see it. He should stop his weird fantasies. Focus on the mission. It was quite, but that didn't mean that there were no guards nearby. Distraction led to failure, which led to injuries, captivation or even death. Information loss at the very least.

They dropped down quietly in the lab, scanning the room for anyone who might have not been recognized by the motion sensors. Security feed was already on loop. Robin positioned himself in front of the air vent, Red Arrow went to the only door, an arrow ready on his bow. Nightwing connected his wrist computer to one of the lab's computers and began hacking the system. This was the most dangerous part of the mission, because only Nightwing really had anything to do, which would leave the other two bored, yet they couldn't let their guard down. If someone noticed them and entered through the door or the air vent, their fate could be decided by seconds. If they reacted too slow, they were dead or at least unconscious before they even knew it.

They were lucky though. A guard came by once, but Nightwing noticed him beforehand, giving him enough time to turn the monitor off, let them all climb back in the air vent and resetting the security cameras so that whoever watched the feed would see the guard passing through.

After that, it took about half an hour before Nightwing announced "I'm done. Let's go." Robin was already halfway back into the vent when Red Arrow approached his friend. This was a facility of the light, so... "Did you find anything about..." He didn't need to finish his sentence. Nightwing shook his head. "Sorry. I searched, but nothing. Not even a trace." He must have looked really disappointed, because Dick laid a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm sure we're gonna find him." He looked up to see his friend's lips curled up into a sad smile and he couldn't help but smiling back. "Thanks."

"Are you two coming, or what?" They heard Robin complain from inside the vent and quickly followed their junior. There were better places for this (or any, really) conversation.

A snowy forest in Canada in January wasn't one of them, though. Seriously, why had the light's hideout have to be in such a cold place? Couldn't they make one in California or something? And they couldn't just pull up in a car and park it next to the front door either. There was just one road to the facility that didn't lead anywhere else, so they had to go with a route made by animals. They had parked their bikes a little bit further away, so they didn't have to walk the entire way, but it would still be cold.

He seemed to be the only one fazed by it. As soon as they were out of earshot, Robin and Nightwing gave each other a high-five, with Nightwing congratulating his brother on the successful mission. It was really nice seeing the two of them get along so well, especially since the initial hatred from Dick's side made that seem impossible at first.

Again, Roy couldn't help but smile as well when he heard the acrobat laugh. He even voluntarily high-fived him and Jason too. He really liked to hear Dick's laugh, even though he'd like it better if he could see his beautiful, shining blue eyes light up. But maybe that would just make things worse, like his lips and butt did or like his abs and legs did when he made a back flip out of joy and to impress Jason. Yeah, they would probably make it worse.

Dammit. He couldn't really deny it anymore. Maybe he really had a crush on Dick Grayson.


	5. Officially

A/N: It's hot outside, so hot... I have no motivation for anything...

A huge thanks to my magykal-guest-reviewer :) Feedback makes me happy. Of course, this goes ro Crystalbird1769 too, have your fluff :3 I hope you like it ;)

* * *

Roy's eyes fluttered open at the faint sound of vibration. Dammit, he should've turned off his phone before going to sleep, he was having such a nice dream... Having a date with Dick, walking on the beach together and even kissing him... Such a beautiful fantasy.

He fumbled for his cell phone that should've been laying on his nightstand, accidentally tossing down his alarm. Well, it deserved it anyway. He got a hold of his phone, squinting his eyes at the annoyingly bright light, but ignoring it as he realized he'd gotten a text from Dick. They'd been texting a lot lately, mostly random stuff, but Roy enjoyed Dick's humor and it always cheered him up when he was getting frustrated at the lack of clues in his search for his original.

_Good morning :) Hope I didn't wake you up? Yesterday ended a bit... weird with Art and all, so, wanna come over and talk about it?_

_~D_

Wait... yesterday? What exactly happened yesterday...? Oh. Wait... He hadn't been dreaming? His date really happened? Yeah. His mind was clear enough from sleep now, and he still remembered going out with Dick as if it was real. Leaving him with only one option: It was real.

'Weird' was a nice description for what happened, they had let go of each other immediately, both completely flushed and basically ran for their lives, getting home and out of the awkward situation. It left Roy with the nagging question what that kiss had meant. Were they boyfriends now? Had Dick just kissed him back because he didn't want to hurt Roy's feelings?

He quickly typed an answer.

_Good morning to you too, early bird :) You did wake me, but I need to get up anyway :D Yeah, weird is a good word for it. Sure, I'll come. The usual zeta? When should I come?_

_~Roy_

He gave a quick glance to his alarm on the floor. Yeah, 9:30 am was still early enough to call Dick early bird without sounding ridiculous. Especially on a Sunday. He pressed 'send'.

He moved to stand up and get some cereal as breakfast, but his phone already vibrated again as he entered his kitchen corner.

_Yes, don't be lazy, Roy! Worms are especially delicious today ;) Okay, be there 10:30 or so?_

Sounded good, so he only sent back a short '_Okay :)' _and went to eat. He'd been so excited and worried yesterday, he hadn't been able to eat dinner at all, so now he was starving. He gulped down his cereal as fast as he could, eating three of his rather large bowls took some time and he still needed to get dressed, brush his teeth and mentally prepare himself.

Before he knew it, he stepped out of the unused phone booth into a side alley. It was empty, so he made his way to a larger, very busy street, that was very typical for Blüdhaven. He leaned against the corner and waited, convincing himself that Dick didn't want to ditch him. He was just late. Even though he was usually punctual or a little too early. He hadn't sent a text either...

He only had to worry about a minute until he could see Dick running toward him and waving. "Sorry" he was greeted by the acrobat "the train was too late and I forgot my phone in my room. I tried to radio you, but you didn't answer..." Dick rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Roy reached to his ear, realizing there really was no radio in there. Oops. Didn't exactly make him feel at ease, now he wouldn't know if there was an emergency, but the world would probably be fine without his help for one day, so...

"Well, seems like I forgot my comm. But I do have my phone... This is just typical. It's like, there's no way we could forget the same thing, because fate just doesn't work that way." That had them both laughing, but after that, awkward silence began to settle in. After all, how do you start a conversation about a kiss when you weren't sure what the other felt? And in the middle of the street?

"Um, maybe we should... go somewhere to talk? We could go to a coffee shop, or I could show you my school, we're allowed to have visitors on the weekends." Apparently, Dick wasn't keen on talking their... whatever it was through on a main street of Blüdhaven either.

"Well, I've never seen your school or your room, you always come to me, so I'm kinda curious..." Dick snorted. "Well, that's because you have to take the train to get to my school, there's no zeta-tube and it takes an eternity to walk and I'd get in trouble if someone found you there outside the visit times. Sneaking away is way easier than hiding someone inside."

They walked to the next train station together, mainly discussing how Dick survived in a school with so many rules while he was sneaking away every evening, doubling as a crime-fighter. Roy definitely wasn't jealous of all the trouble Dick had to go through to keep his secret, but the younger just shrugged it off. Right now, during summer break, things were a lot easier than usually, especially going on team missions during the day or for multiple days was very easily hidden as a trip somewhere, while it usually took way more effort. "Just another reason why I don't want school to start again" was Dick's only comment on the whole situation.

Luckily, time went by fast as they were talking, so the trip to the school didn't seem all that long. The school itself thoroughly blew Roy's mind. It looked more like a castle or mansion than a school and everything was clean and luxurious. He never knew schools could look like this, it was completely different from the one Roy went to (that hadn't been the worst either, at least since he became Ollie's ward).

Dick chuckled at his expression. "It looks grossly expensive, doesn't it? But it's still a school, teenagers are being teenagers, teachers are being teachers and the food sucks." Dick showed him a class room (that surprisingly looked like a totally normal class room), the cafeteria, the garden and sports fields outside and then the dorms and his room.

It looked pretty plain to Roy, no posters, no clothing on the floor, a perfectly made bed, a nightstand, a closet and a desk. The only things indicating that someone lived here at all were the books and the notebook on the desk and two photos. One of them showed Dick as a kid being lifted up by an elephant's trunk and two people that were probably his parents standing next to him and laughing. The other one was only taken recently, showing Dick hugging Jason from behind, with Bruce and Alfred softly smiling at the boys.

"You don't have a roommate? I always thought you had roommates at boarding schools." He wasn't sure what else to say about the room except maybe apologizing that his apartment was never that clean. "Roommates are for the common folk, my dear friend. It is nothing you will find at a prestigious institution like ours." The acrobat flopped down on his bed, laughing, then motioned for Roy to sit down beside him.

"So... let's get to the point?" Roy asked as he made himself comfortable. Silence. The awkwardness was back. Dick broke the silence first (as he always did, he was probably used to it from living with Batman, who never started a conversation unless it was urgent). "So, yesterday, you, um... kissed me. Why?"

Straight to the point. Roy should have been prepared for that question, he really should have. It was the most obvious one, after all. But he wasn't, because he still wasn't sure if he wanted Dick to know that he was crushing on him, that he thought he maybe even was in love because none of his crushes had made him feel and act stupid and weird like the acrobat. He was five years older after all, it _was_ kinda creepy. And what if Dick didn't feel the same? Rejection hurt, especially from someone really close to you.

But he was supposed to answer. Like, _now._ So he just opened his mouth and said the first thing that came to his mind. "I did it because I wanted - want you to be my boyfriend! I-I think I'm in love with you..." He rushed the first part out, but his voice became slower and quieter as he talked, until it was a barely audible whisper.

Dick understood though, all of it. Was still working on believing, though. He'd been crushing on Roy for quite a while now, but he'd classified it as one of those teenager crushes you have on adults that will never be returned. Yes, he had realized Roy's body language was screaming 'sexual/emotional attraction' when he had asked him out and during their date. But that could have just been wishful thinking.

So he had done what Batman had taught him to do when he didn't know how to deal with a situation: Act confident, even if you're not, and don't reveal too much. The kiss should have been a clear enough sign, but he'd saved his crush as one-sided in his brain, so he thought up a million reasons why Roy could have kissed him without actually having feelings for him and made himself even less confident.

But now he'd said it. And unless this was some really awful prank or bet, that was unmistakable. And since Roy wasn't the kind of person who played with the feelings of others and his body language said 'honest' as well... He was gonna risk it. Most missions couldn't be completed without taking certain risks and he'd never been one to back out.

"I think I'm in love with you too. I'd like to be your boyfriend" he answered after all these contemplations went through his head at top speed. He carefully studied Roy's face. It had about the same color as his hair, except it looked more on the pink than on the orange side of red, and it took him three seconds to process the information and change his facial expression.

He was smiling, so Dick inched closer, positioning his mouth directly in front of his boyfriend's, leaving the last bit to Roy.

He didn't have to wait long. The archer closed the last bit of distance between them, catching his lips. This time felt so much better than the last, because all of the doubt was erased from Dick's head and he allowed himself to just be happy. His fluttering stomach and fast beating heart totally agreed with that feeling.

He readily opened his mouth when his boyfriend deepened the kiss. He wasn't too sure about his french-kissing skills, since they only came from a few experiments with equally inexperienced people, so he let Roy dominate it. It felt good though (even if it should feel gross, he knew all the disgusting facts), so he supposed he was doing something right.

Well, that or Roy was just a better kisser than the other people he had kissed, which was very likely. But maybe it was both.

When they finally broke apart for air, both of them were breathing hard and completely flushed. "So" Roy began "we're officially a couple now?"

"Yes, we are."Both of them were grinning stupidly. Nothing had felt this _right _in a long time.

* * *

"Come in" Roy greeted his boyfriend, smiling warmly. He got a kiss instead of an immediate reply, but honestly, he could live with that. After all, after a few training sessions, Dick had proven to be a very talented kisser. "Hey."

"Make yourself at home, everything's already prepared. We have popcorn, the pizza is still hot and fresh, drinks are cool and ready and I have lots of movies ready we could watch, only waiting to be put in my DVD-player." Dick grinned back. "Wow. What did I do to deserve all these privileges?"

"You dimmed crime in Blüdhaven enough so that there's no big coup planned tonight from any crime syndicate. And, of course, you've put up with me as your boyfriend for exactly a month now." Roy planted a soft kiss on his boyfriend's head. He needed to do that a lot, since it was getting harder every day (or so it seemed) since Dick was growing so fast, it would soon be impossible. In fact, Roy was already praying that the acrobat would stay smaller than him. It would be so weird since Dick had always been so much smaller than him and it would also be a huge blow to his ego if he had to look up or even stand on his tiptoes to kiss him.

He thought he heard a weird, kinda muffled sound, but elected to ignore it, kicking the door shut. Didn't sound like a scream of panic, so it wasn't his business.

"I get something good for that? I always thought I'd get something bad because nobody should be allowed to be this lucky." Dick pecked him on the cheek, then made his way to the living room, where Roy's DVD collection was put on display on the floor, some lying around messily, some in neat piles, carefully sorted. He really had everything from Star Wars to the Avengers.

Dick's attention was caught by a single DVD lying in a messy pile that was topped by Lost in Translation (the most boring movie ever). "Seriously, Roy? The Little Mermaid?" He picked it up, but Roy grabbed it from his hands before he had a chance to really look at it. "This... is not what it looks like. You probably think I like Disney princess movies now, but I just bought it... to show it to Kaldur. You know, to show him what most people base their imagination of life underwater off."

Dick raised an eyebrow (one of the first moves he learned from Bruce). The DVD looked old and used, but the excuse was on the better side of the scale of made-up-in-a-second-excuses, so he let it slide.

They settled for the first Harry Potter movie, as it was enjoyable and left enough things to comment on, like differences to the book and hints as well as plotholes concerning the next movies. Plus, if they didn't have enough after one movie, they had seven left to go. Usually Roy hated people commenting on movies (especially when they were only complaining and just wouldn't shut up), but Dick only made the movie funnier and knew when to keep his mouth shut, important scenes were not to be disturbed.

So Roy put the movie in and turned the TV on, while Dick opened the window and turned the lights off - it was August, after all, and they didn't want to end up completely drenched in sweat or with billions of bugs in the apartment.

They snuggled together on the couch as the movie started. They ate the pizza and popcorn, talked and laughed and occasionally shared a kiss. God, they probably looked like a complete cliché movie couple, but somehow, either of them could care less. After all, it wasn't like anyone was watching them, right?

* * *

_A little earlier, in the watchtower_

Right now, Oliver Queen was perfectly happy with his life. His relationship with Dinah was going well, the wedding and honeymoon had been awesome and now that things were back to normal, they still got along as good as before. He didn't feel tied down by being a married man, either. Artemis was doing well, getting along well with everyone on the team and her relationship with Wally seemed steady as well. He never expected it, thinking both of them were too impulsive and aggressive, but he was happy to be proven wrong.

Even Roy seemed to be doing better. Their relationship was still not the best, but he'd stopped only accusing or ignoring him and the last time they met on patrol they had a conversation that Ollie could even qualify as pleasant and his obsession with original Speedy was apparently fading a little. He didn't annoy them anymore by asking every two days if there were any new clues or hints.

Okay, so he wasn't happy that they still hadn't found anything about Speedy and the chances were high that he was dead, getting higher every day, with every hint that led to nothing. But he hadn't given up yet, and he wouldn't complain about his life because of that. Both of his businesses were going well, with the light and even Luthor laying low, he made lots of money and had lots of free time.

And he was sitting in the watchtower, where the climate was the same all year, so the heat down on earth didn't have anything on him. He felt good.

But luck never lasted long. He should have learned that by now.

This time, reality grabbed him by the back of his collar and shoved him on his feet. Pretty literally too, if reality was a guy in a black bat costume that didn't look happy at all. "Come with me" Batman commanded, "I'm sure Diana can manage the last ten minutes of your monitor duty alone." The amazon princess just waved her hand dismissively, nothing was happening anyway and she wouldn't start an argument with Batman over something simple like that. Not worth it.

Green Arrow gave her a please-say-no-don't-leave-me-alone-with-this-lunatic-look, but she remained cold as ice. No man had such an influence on her. So GA hung his head and dragged behind Batman. "What's this about?" he asked, since the other man hadn't said anything yet. Usually he at least got a short explanation of the mission before he was dragged halfway across the galaxy or into the middle of a gang war.

"I need your help." Well, that was rare. Explained the bad mood, too. "Oh? Since when does the great Batman need help?" He wasn't about to let such a good opportunity pass. Batman had never asked him for help before. _If _ he needed help, it was usually something that was completely impossible for a human being, meaning Ollie was the entirely wrong person for the job.

Batman scowled at him. "Batman doesn't need help. Never." That was a lie. The league was created as acknowledgment that they all needed help. Leave it to Batman to ignore that. "But this is not about the job and it concerns you as well, so stop complaining."

Not about the job? Meaning it was something that didn't concern Batman and Green Arrow, but Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen. That happened sometimes, they were business partners, but... why would he drag him from the watchtower in full costume when he usually let someone call his secretary?

"I wasn't complaining at all." He really wasn't, he'd just been asking questions. "You were complaining with your face. Still are. Now let's go." So he wasn't gonna get an explanation, because Batman for some reason didn't want to tell him. Awesome.

They zeta'd to Star City - whatever the reason - and Ollie just silently followed Bruce. If he didn't want to talk, it was useless. He'd probably see whatever the problem was soon enough anyway. But... why were they still in costume, and what were they doing... here?

"Um... This is Roy's apartment" he tentatively began, "_what _exactly are we doing here?" And what does Roy have to do with anything that would interest _you_? He wanted to add, but bit back his tongue. Wouldn't help at all. "Just wait. You'll see."

So he sat down, mentally complaining about the heat, and waited. Right now, they were watching the front door, so he couldn't even see inside to find out if Roy was even home or what he was doing, making this seem pretty pointless.

It didn't take long until something happened. And suddenly, he knew what this was about, why Bruce was interested and why he hadn't talked about it. Dick came walking down the street, apparently visiting Roy, but _kissing him. _"They're a couple?" he whispered disbelievingly. Since when? Why hadn't anyone told him about this? Hell, was there anyone who knew? Or was this common knowledge that he just somehow missed or that was purposely kept from him?

"A mon-fffhh?!" He shouted at Roy's declaration - or tried to, since a gloved hand was pressed to his mouth and he was pulled back from the edge so that Roy wouldn't be able to see them.

They made their way to another building in silent agreement, now observing the couple in the living room. They even opened a window, making this way too easy. They certainly weren't trying to hide.

Bruce gave him 20 minutes of observing the two boys watching Harry Potter and acting way too couple-y to wrap his mind around it before he pulled him away and they settled on a rooftop a little further away. Well, all his questions were answered now, except... "And... what do you need my help for now? I'm not helping you to kill Roy, if that's what you're planning."

Bruce sighed. When he talked, it didn't sound like Batman at all. "Why does everybody think that? Dick is old enough to make these decisions himself, that's not the problem here." Ollie let out an inner sigh of relief. The wrath of the bat was not something he'd wish on Roy. So... Bruce was actually okay with the scene they'd just observed?

"But... What _is _the problem, if it's not the relationship?" Somehow, once he'd seen what was happening, he'd been sure Bruce had called him here to help him end this. Probably arguing that Roy was too old for Dick or that Dick was too young for relationships altogether. He just seemed that overprotective.

"He hasn't told me about this... yet. I'm not sure if he plans to, either. So... how do I talk to him about it?" Wait. He wanted... parenting advice? From Ollie, of all people? He'd tried, but he really wasn't the shining example in that area. Heck, the only thing keeping him from being the worst was Clark's absolute failure.

"After all", Bruce continued, "You're going to have to do this sooner or later too anyway, so you might as well start thinking about it now." Oh god, that was right, he'd have to talk about it with Roy. He wasn't looking forward to that conversation, he already knew it was gonna be really awkward... Great.

So... how should not-talkative-and-socially-weird-when-it-comes-to-people-he-actually-cares-about-Batman talk with his ward about his gay and probably first relationship?

...

...

...

How was he supposed to know that?! This was gonna be even weirder than the conversation he'd have with Roy, no matter what advice he gave Bruce! But he needed to say something... Bruce wouldn't just let him go. So he just made a plan on how he could talk to Roy about it, with major goals achieved and his head still in place. Couldn't be too different for anyone else, right?

"Um... Just bring it up during small-talk that you know about it?" It came out more like a question than an advice. "I don't do small-talk." Oh, right. This was Batman. "Well, then just bring it up out of silence when he's around. Do it when there's nobody else around and... just be honest, I guess." Bruce didn't answer but he looked kind of... Ollie couldn't tell, he wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad sign, but he kept talking. "I mean, he knows you, right? He probably knows that talking to you about this is gonna be awkward, which is why he's not doing it. Or maybe he's afraid you won't approve."

Actually, he had no idea about what reasons Dick had for not talking to his mentor, but these sounded pretty likely. And the boy always held his mentor's opinion in high regard and wanted his approval. It was painfully obvious and Bruce usually didn't give him too much of that.

"And, um... you're okay with it, right? Say that first, before you... tell him about dangers or negative things or whatever... Because if you don't say that first, he's gonna think you don't approve for whatever reason. Maybe he won't even let you talk to the end where you'd say it or he could walk out on you..." Which is what Roy would do, should Green Arrow try to talk him out of this. Or anything, for that matter.

Bruce actually seemed to consider what he said. He had his Batman-thinking-face on, so Ollie shut his mouth and waited. Without any prior warning, Batman stood up. "That's good enough. Thanks." He shot his grappling gun and swung off, not leaving Green Arrow any time to answer.

Ollie took some time to catch his breath - he hadn't even realized how tense he'd been. He blamed Bruce for acting so weird and not Batman-like while wearing the costume. He remained sitting on the rooftop for a little while. There was a light breeze up there, making the evening heat actually kinda enjoyable.

So Roy was in a relationship too now, huh? He'd been on the verge of believing the boy'd never make it.

He decided on a whim to take another look at the couple before heading home to Dinah (who'd probably be pissed, he'd said he'd be right back after monitor duty and now he was way too late... Hopefully he'd still get dinner, he was starving - What? No! He wasn't whipped!). He was curious.

Harry Potter was still on, but apparently, they were down to one piece of popcorn.

"I had it first!"

"I'm younger, I still need to grow! You'll just get fat."

"Um, no? I need something to support these muscles."

"Then eat the pizza!"

"You know what? Let's share."

Roy put the popcorn in his mouth and bent down a little to kiss his boyfriend.

In front of the window, Ollie chuckled. Who knew Roy could be this cute?

* * *

Oh yeah, the 'everybody' Bruce refers to who think he'll kill Roy are Jason, Babs and Alfred who all know about the relationship and on first reflex held him down (Jason and Babs) or just told him dryly (Alfred) when Bruce found out about it ;)


	6. Relationships

A/N: Sorry this took so long, but I was lazy since I'm finished with school now and don't have to do anything anymore. And I just got Mario Kart 8, so... yeah. You get the point. Sorry :/ And it's even shorter than usual...

Warnings: Lots of mentionings of gay (and straight) sex in here, but no explicit descriptions. Also, since Dick is still 15, this is considered underage in a lot of countries. Also mentionings of child abuse/rape. Character death.

* * *

They had decided to take things slowly with their relationship. It was Dick's first serious try at a relationship after all. However cheesy it may sound, they wanted to build it on love, not on sex. They didn't want to ruin it by reducing it to a mainly physical level.

Then there was the fact that Dick was still a virgin, while Roy had already admitted to him that he'd already had sex with both men and women. In all honesty, the acrobat was nervous. He wasn't afraid of the pain that Bruce had warned him about in a very awkward talk about safety and other things concerning homosexual intercourse. He could take pain and Roy would probably try to be as gentle as possible. But he had no experience whatsoever. Maybe he wouldn't be able to satisfy Roy like his previous lovers had. Maybe he'd come too early. Maybe he'd do something stupid and make a complete fool out of himself.

But according to Wally, these concerns were as normal as unnecessary. He'd gotten some explicit descriptions of his best friend's sexual experiences with Artemis that he could've lived without, but the bottom line was reassuring: He loves you, he won't care.

So, after three months of a steady relationship, Dick didn't see any reason for them not to take the next step in their relationship. He wanted to try it and he could see Roy wanted it as well. Everything would work out.

Except Roy completely refused to do anything more than a little groping. Even if Dick tried to make some advances on the archer, he always gently replaced his hands, put some distance between them and told him 'later'. He'd have some serious issues by now about not being attractive for his boyfriend if he hadn't noticed how aroused the other got during some of their make-out sessions.

Since the more subtle hints didn't work, Dick decided to confront his boyfriend directly about it, no matter how embarrassing that may end up being.

* * *

They were lounging on the couch together, eating nachos and each of them a book in front of their face that they needed for studying. It was still weird Dick wasn't talking. He was always talking. And he couldn't be that focused on reading, seeing as he hadn't turned the page since about ten minutes. Roy felt himself glancing at the acrobat about every thirty seconds instead of studying, so he decided to just ask.

"Is something wrong? You can tell me anything, okay?" Dick sighed, closing his book. He turned to face Roy, took a deep breath and calmly stated "I want to have sex with you." Well, that was direct. Not that it was necessary, Roy had noticed the not-so-subtle hints, but he'd hoped to avoid the topic.

"Dick, I..." He searched his brain for a good explanation that didn't make the other feel like Roy thought he was still a kid. Because he didn't, but somehow, he still felt like a pedophile when thinking about doing naughty things with him. And then there was the fact that he'd actually be breaking a law, which wouldn't be the first time due to his work, but it still existed for a reason.

"You what?", Dick retorted, "I know you want it too, so where's your problem?" He actually seemed frustrated. Dammit. Maybe this was more important to his boyfriend than Roy had thought. Not making his situation any better, though.

"I... it's illegal" he settled for. It didn't seem to convince Dick at all. He just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like that stopped you before..." But then he seemed to have an afterthought and added "Oh, if you're scared because of Batman, he already gave his okay as long as we follow his rules, which are basically only that we're both sober and use a condom."

Roy couldn't say he wasn't relieved that he wouldn't get the bat-wrath should he fail to restrain himself, but that wasn't the core problem here. "No, it's not that, I just... I don't know, I guess it... it legally makes me a child molester. And of all the criminals we fight, these are really some of my least favorite ones." He'd never forget the empty eyes of the children he freed from such situations. After such a long time on the job, not much managed to get to him anymore, but these traumatized children always did. He didn't want to be like the scum that actually put the kids in that state, not even remotely.

He was met with silence after that for a while. "Roy", Dick finally spoke up in a soft voice, "I think I understand what you mean. I know what a kid that suffered through statutory rape looks like. The empty eyes, the way they are scared of every touch... It's a horrible crime. But that's not what we'd be doing. I'm only five months away from being legal and I know a bunch of countries where it actually would be legal - developed, democratic countries. And I may be a virgin, Roy, but I'm _not_ innocent. I don't have any illusions about sex. I fight crime in Gotham, I stopped the first rape in progress when I was nine. I've seen everything from murdered rape victims to slaves in illegal BDSM-clubs. I think I can take having sex with my boyfriend."

That sounded really honest and logical. Roy couldn't help but feel swayed to give in. He wanted to at least give one argument against Dick's, but he made the mistake of looking in his eyes. His goddamn shiny blue puppy-dog eyes. Nobody could withstand them. Nobody. Roy knew these eyes had gotten Dick a stay on Themyscira, he'd managed to coax Superman into introducing Superboy to his foster parents and Lois with them and they regularly got him whatever he wanted from Batman.

Yes, you heard that right. That pair of sky-blue eyes was the only weapon the archer knew that was effective on the whole Justice League Trinity. Roy wasn't even a member anymore. How was he supposed to withstand?

Long story of inner turmoil and conflict short, he didn't.

"Fine", he sighed, pulling Dick towards him so that the acrobat was lying on his chest. He softly pressed a kiss on his boyfriend's hair. "But not now. Let's do it right. In a bed. After a date. It's your first time, we should make it special."

Roy could feel Dick chuckle against his chest. The acrobat looked up to him with a bright grin. "You're such a hopeless romantic, Roy. But I love that about you." He gave the archer a short peck on the lips to emphasize his point. "Oh, really? So I'm allowed to make it as stereotypically romantic as I can? With rose petals and candles and heart shaped pillows and love songs in the background?" He pecked his boyfriend back for good measure.

"Please, no roses and heart pillows. I think I'd burst out laughing." Which was believable, as he already was laughing. "Is that a yes on the candles and the love songs? Because I'm insisting on the candles, no matter what you say." The acrobat only laughed harder and Roy took the liberty of interpreting that as a 'yes'.

* * *

The big day was set on a Saturday, one and a half weeks later. They had reserved a table in a relatively fancy restaurant - nothing on Bruce Wayne level, but way better than the usual fast food places they went to - and Roy had prepared everything for the after-activity. He had the candles - they were important, okay? - and even a CD with love songs as well as lube and condoms.

He'd tried to get rid of his nervousness by talking to Kaldur and even though it hadn't completely worn off, the calm voice of his friend had definitely helped. He'd even called Artemis - which he regretted, she laughed at him - who hadn't been helpful at all, but at least she told him that Dick was nervous as well and Wally was the one who had to deal with that. She hung up after giving him a death-threat should he do anything wrong to the acrobat or force him to do something he didn't want. Like he'd do that.

Now it was only about an hour until he had to go, so he started dressing up, he wanted to look perfect for the special occasion.

Meanwhile, Dick was having about the same thoughts, with the exception that he was more nervous and that he had less time until he had to go, because he needed to take a damn train to get to a zeta-tube. He was already dressed in a suit, but he wasn't sure if he was overdressed. What if Roy didn't come in a suit? He would look so ridiculous then... He had already disposed of the tie to make it look more casual, but it still looked-

The buzz of his phone stopped him mid-thought. He was genuinely surprised when he saw it was Bruce calling him. Bruce never called just to talk and if it was about the job, he usually used mails or the comm., depending on how urgent it was. But even though he'd planned on ditching it, the comm. was still tucked in his ear, so his mentor could have reached him there...

"Hello?" he greeted, more like a question. Maybe it was just someone using Bruce's cell phone, after all. "Dick." Nope, that was definitely Bruce. Even though he sounded a little... weird. "Come to the cave. Now." He hadn't told his father-figure what he'd be doing tonight, but he was still a little offended he thought Dick would just come like that, without any explanation.

"Bruce, is this urgent? I'm not exactly free tonight..." The understatement of the year, but a clear no wouldn't get him anywhere near to Bruce actually telling him what this is about. "It's not really... urgent. But it's important. Just... come. You'll see when you're here." Now this didn't sound like Bruce at all and Dick started to get really worried. This basically sounded like Bruce was begging him to come, and in case somebody hadn't guessed it, Batman never begged. "Fine." He replied. Maybe he could just see what this was about and still make it on time to Roy. Zeta-tubes were the best inventions ever. Now if only the train would go according to schedule, he could make it...

Roy was dressed and styled perfectly fifteen minutes before he had to meet up with Dick. Since it'd take him about ten minutes to get to the restaurant, now was the perfect time to go. If nothing happened, he'd only be a little too early and if something small happened, he'd still be on time.

He was on the way to his door when his phone began buzzing. Yes, this was why you should always have a little time buffer when you had to be on time. He pulled it out and frowned when he saw Dick was calling. That couldn't be anything too good, they were supposed to meet in fifteen minutes. Even his chatty bird could contain himself that long if he had good news.

"Hey, Dick?" He answered the phone. He immediately froze when he heard the acrobat's voice. "S-Sorry Roy, I won't c-come tonight." Dick sounded like he was downright sobbing. Roy's protective reflexes kicked in. He needed to find out what happened and make Dick stop crying. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"Jason", Dick managed to choke out between the sobs, "Jason's dead."

Roy nearly dropped his phone. What? That lively ambitious kid with a few too many anger issues... dead? Dick's cute little brother and Batman's protégé... how did that even happen? God, no wonder Dick was crying. "Roy?" He only realized he was supposed to answer when Dick's voice rang through the phone again. "Where are you? I'll come over right now."

He really couldn't leave his boyfriend alone right now. Bruce wasn't enough emotional help in such a situation. "I'm in the manor... Bruce kicked me out of the cave." Roy slipped his shoes on. "I'll be right there, okay?" Dick sniffled a little. "Thanks, Roy." He said that like it wasn't the natural thing to do and actually had to thank Roy for it. "No problem. Really. See you then."

He made his way to the manor in record time (considering he had to run because he wasn't smart enough to take his bike). Even Alfred didn't look as calm and collected as usual when he opened the door for Roy. His voice was quiet and sad when he told Roy where to find Dick. He sent the elderly butler a sympathetic look and mumbled a short "sorry", feeling a little guilty that he didn't seem to have anyone to comfort him, but right now, Dick was more important.

The acrobat was lying on his old bed, eyes already red and puffy and his cheeks stained with streaks of tears that were still flowing freely. He sat up as soon as he heard the door opening and latched his arms around Roy, pulling him as close as he could. He needed to confirm that Roy was still alive and wouldn't be leaving him anytime soon. He couldn't stand the thought of being completely alone all over again.

Dick knew he probably looked completely pathetic, crying that much about a kid that wasn't even his real brother, that he didn't even know that well because they'd never lived together and Dick hadn't been back on the team for that long. But... that was the problem. He'd wanted to be a big brother for Jason, because the kid had been all alone too, because Bruce tried, and Alfred tried, but they were both always a little distant and Dick had wanted to be there for Jason when none of the adults could... But he had failed.

He couldn't even keep his baby brother alive. He had only been thinking about himself and hadn't noticed at all what Jason went through. Hadn't even known that Jason wanted to find and meet his mother, because the boy obviously hadn't trusted him enough to tell him. And he'd been too happy with Roy to notice any changes in Jason's behavior.

And now he couldn't even help Bruce. He'd been pushed away when he hugged the older man and kicked out of the cave when he told him that it wasn't his fault and he shouldn't blame himself. He knew Bruce hadn't meant to hurt Dick. He wanted to hurt himself, because he blamed himself. Felt like he didn't _deserve _to be comforted, not by Dick, not by Alfred and not by anyone else.

He'd spent the night staring at Jason's corpse, mentally beating himself up, before getting a maximum of three hours of sleep. And after that, he'd set out and find the Joker, beating him nearly to death in a desperate attempt at vengeance that wouldn't satisfy him at all. Basically, he'd be doing the exact same thing he did after his parents' death. Dick had hoped he could change Bruce in that regard, by giving him an open emotional connection, so that he'd be able to grieve in a healthier way, without filling his thoughts with hatred and vengeance.

But he had obviously failed. Again.

He told Roy all of that and more while they cuddled together on the way too large bed in the way too large and way too empty room, clinging to his boyfriend like a lifeline. Most of it came out in between sobs and not exactly in the right order, so Roy probably didn't understand all of it, but that didn't matter. He'd get the official memo everyone would get with the basic information.

All that mattered was that he was there, holding Dick close and mumbling sweet nothings in his ear. He kept Dick from falling apart, calmed him down and kept the nightmares away once Dick had fallen into an exhausted sleep in his boyfriend's arms. The acrobat couldn't help but feel like he was lucky, at least a little bit, otherwise he'd never have such an amazing boyfriend.

Roy's mind was filled with worry the whole time. He completely forgot to stagnate the reservation just like he forgot what they had planned tonight. He wanted to make Dick feel better, but he wasn't sure how. He couldn't bring back Jason, he couldn't change Bruce and he couldn't turn back time to let Dick be there for his brother. He couldn't even make his boyfriend stop crying.

He felt like he'd failed Dick. It was a miracle he seeked comfort from him at all, instead of pushing him away and calling Wally or Babs. Not that he would tell him that, the little acrobat - so small, he was still so small and frail in Roy's arms, like he would break any time - had enough to worry about right now. So he held his boyfriend close, comforting him as best as he could while slowly drifting to sleep beside Dick.


	7. Happily Ever After?

A/N: This took way too long again. I have no excuse.

Warnings: Gay sex is gonna be mentioned again (still no real explicit descriptions though, but Dick is still 15), as well as the character death from last chapter.

* * *

Three weeks had passed since Jason's death. The Joker was currently in a bat-induced coma, so Bruce had at least started to sleep a few hours per day again. Dick had told Roy and the team everything that happened. All of them mourned the little Robin, he'd made more friends in the year he spent with them than he thought. They made him a tribute in the cave and everyone who knew his secret identity showed up at his official funeral.

Dick couldn't help but cry a lot. He felt pathetic, but nobody held it against him. Wally comforted him, Babs comforted him, Zatanna comforted him and Roy of course comforted him as well. Miss Martian initiated a team-hug with Dick squished in the middle that nobody could escape.

The acrobat's smile started to return slowly. It was weak at first and didn't hold the same careless joy as before, but it was back. The whole team breathed a sigh of relief when Nightwing was 'whelmed' again for the first time after his brother's death. Maybe it would take some time, but Dick would be okay.

Right now, he was in his room at school, cuddling with Roy under the blankets to escape the icy November winds outside. It was only late afternoon, but he felt like he was slowly drifting to sleep. He didn't really mind though, his bed was so comfy and Roy's arms around him made it feel even warmer and safer...

Meanwhile, a young boy entered the school's office. He looked around nervously, but the woman behind the counter greeted him with a friendly smile. "Hello, little one. Can I help you with something? Are you lost?" Her sweet tone annoyed him a little, he was ten, not three. No need to baby him.

"I'm not lost. I came here to visit Richard Grayson. I'd like to know where his room is." He knew the school allowed visitors on weekends. There was no reason to deny him that information. The woman looked it up in her computer, handed him a piece of paper with the room number and gave him a description on how to find the dorms and the correct room number.

That was unnecessary, he already looked it up on the school's website, but he listened to her anyway, it would have been impolite to interrupt her. When she was finished, he quickly made his way to the room with the correct number. He stood in front of it for a while, double-checking if he had the right room and gathering up courage. He was nervous, but now that he'd come so far, there was no way he'd turn around.

He took a deep breath and knocked. The first ended up being really quiet and nobody moved behind the door, so he knocked a second time, a lot louder than before. Finally something shuffled behind the door. The boy's heart picked up speed as he heard footsteps approaching the door.

He was faced with a grumpy looking redhead. "Who are you?" He sounded just as grumpy as he looked, too. "I want to talk with Dick Grayson." The other's face got even grumpier as his question wasn't answered. A bit more, and he'd be able to compete with the grumpy cat. "Listen, kid, I have no idea who you are, but Dick certainly didn't invite you over, so go home." He wouldn't give in so easily. "No." He shoved one of his feet forward to ensure the door wouldn't get shut right in front of him. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just throw you out of the building, brat."

The boy smirked. Reasoning was his strong point. "If you'd do that, I could tell everyone you spend your nights hunting criminals with bow and arrow, Roy Harper." Well... he didn't actually know that for sure, it was just an assumption he made and while it seemed logical and likely, he had no actual proof. Nobody would believe him. But a good bluff was usually worth the risk.

Roy suddenly grabbed him by the collar and yanked him inside, slamming the door shut behind him. His backpack got ripped from his grip and he found himself pressed against the wall. "_Who are you?_" Roy asked again, this time a lot more aggressive. Well, seemed like his assumption was right.

He didn't answer, searching the room instead (only with his eyes of course, it wasn't that easy to move when someone a lot taller and older than you pressed you against a wall) in hopes of seeing Dick Grayson, but it was empty. Roy took his silence as an invitation to search his body. Probably for weapons.

Well, oops.

Of course someone who knew his secret identity and threatened to make it public would be seen as a potential enemy, even a kid. Maybe he should have been nicer, he still needed to find Dick Grayson and Roy Harper could be really useful for that...

He heard a toilet flush and a door open, but couldn't see it. Must've been right in his blind spot. "Roy? What are you doing? And who's that kid?" There he was! Dick Grayson! But instead of greeting him or saying something smart or somehow wiggling out of Roy's grip, he just stood there. Like a total idiot. Completely awestruck.

When Dick had left his nest of blankets and Roy for a quick visit to the bathroom, this wasn't what he'd expected to come back to. Roy let the kid go at his slightly scolding tone, but only shrugged. "I'd like to know that too..." The boy didn't move at all, eyes fixated on the acrobat. Roy poked him tentatively. "I swear he was moving just two seconds ago..."

"Did you ask him?" Roy gave him annoyed look. "Of course. Apparently, his first name is 'I want to' and his last name 'talk with Dick Grayson'."

"Oh, so you came all the way out here just for a talk with me?", Dick addressed the boy directly, "I'm honored. Care to tell me your name, so I can thank you properly?" The kid seemed to get out of his daze slowly, lowering his head and mumbling something in response. Dick knelt down to meet the kid's size and gave him an encouraging smile. "Sorry, I couldn't understand that, can you repeat it for me?" The boy nodded and took a deep breath.

"T-Tim. My name's Tim Drake." Dick remembered the Drake's vaguely. Did they have a son? Did they ever bring him to a charity ball from Bruce? He honestly couldn't remember. Keeping all the names and faces of all the socialites at Brucie's parties in his head had never been one of his strong points.

"Nice to meet you, Tim. You must have some important business with me, right? Wanna come in and tell me? Even though I wasn't expecting you, so I didn't clean up beforehand..." Dick kept his nice smile on during the entire conversation. It seemed to work on Tim, who slowly began to speak with more confidence.

"Yeah, thanks." He tentatively walked over to his backpack and clutched it to his chest, eyes suspiciously trained on Roy. Just what had he done to scare the poor boy like that? He'd have to have a serious conversation with his boyfriend later on about the proper way to treat children. "Can we... Can we talk alone?"

"Of course!" Dick answered immediately with a big smile. Roy seemed like he wanted to protest, but Dick gave him a pointed look. The archer rolled his eyes and went to pick up his shirt. "Fine", he grumbled, "I'm gonna go get myself some coffee." With that, he left the room.

Dick flumped down on his bed, gesturing for Tim to take the chair that stood in front of the desk. The boy sat down, a little flushed. "Sorry if I... interrupted anything." Dick blinked a few times. Then he flushed even more than Tim. Okay, with him and Roy both being shirtless, with ruffled hair and an unmade bed in the middle of the afternoon, he saw how this looked suspicious, but... This boy couldn't be any older than nine. Kids grew up way too fast these days.

"Oh no, you didn't. We were just lazing around, really." The acrobat knew his smile looked probably really fake and he didn't make his situation any better, but luckily, Tim didn't seem to want to dig any further in this subject.

"I'm gonna get straight to the point then. I want you to go back to being Robin." Tim stated that in a calm voice, not the slightest hint of doubt in his voice.

"What?" Dick blinked. "But..." He needed an unsuspicious answer to that, and fast. "What are you talking about?" Not the best, but still. At least he hadn't given himself away immediately.

"Don't play dumb with me." Maybe the kid was gaining confidence too fast. He reached into his backpack and handed Dick a bunch of photos. All of them showed him as Robin or Nightwing, somewhere on the roofs of Gotham and in one of them, he wasn't wearing a mask. Even though the shot wasn't from the best angle or the best quality, you could still clearly see Dick's face. "I know these are not photo-shopped, I made them myself. I know you're Nightwing. I know Bruce Wayne is Batman. And I know that Jason Todd died wearing a cape, not during a climbing accident."

The acrobat tried to grasp the fact that a child he'd never seen before was sitting in his room, telling him about his secret identity, that nobody ever figured out completely by themselves. And... he wanted him to be Robin again? How did that make sense? But Tim just continued to talk. Now that he'd started, he told Dick everything.

How he'd been a fan of him back in his circus days. How he saw what happened to the acrobat's parents. How he continued to be interested in his story. How he got saved by him while wearing the Robin costume back in his first months of being a superhero. How he figured out his and Batman's identity. And how Bruce's behavior towards criminals changed since Jason's death.

When he finally finished, he looked to Dick expectantly. Who was still amazed. "Wow", he breathed out, "you're a really smart kid, you know that?" Tim beamed at the compliment. "But as much as I appreciate your concern, I won't be Robin ever again. It's still weird to get advice from someone I don't know, but if Batman's behavior really bothers you so much, I'll try and help him. As Nightwing."

Tim didn't look satisfied with his answer at all. "That's not enough", he claimed. "Batman _needs_ a Robin!" The boy had jumped from his chair and made a stubborn pouty face. So adorable...

No, he needed to stay serious. "Sorry, Timmy." He couldn't go back. The past was the past. He'd worked too hard to become his own man. He liked being Nightwing. Fighting alone. Fighting with Roy. Fighting with the team. Always with equals, never ordered around. Becoming Robin again would ruin everything. He just couldn't do it.

Even if that meant looking into the really disappointed face of a very cute admirer.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure Batman gets back on track." He ruffled through Tim's hair. "And you make sure to put that smart brain of yours to a good use."

Tim stood up, face still sad and disappointed. "Okay", he mumbled, "I'll go home then." He snatched his photos back, put his backpack back on and went to leave. Shortly before reaching the door, he turned back again, now a small smile on his face. "It was nice finally meeting you anyway. Maybe I'll see you at one of those boring parties." With that, he quickly made his way out of the door, nearly running into Roy Harper in the process.

As he made his way down the hallway and out of the school, a smirk began spreading over his face. So Dick Grayson didn't want to be Robin. Batman needed a Robin, he stood by his word. But a new idea already popped up in his head.

What better way to put his brain to good use than actual detective work?

* * *

Roy took a deep breath. Today would be their second try at a first time. It was the beginning of December, so the weather was bound to be freezing, grey and wet. No way they'd get snow this early on. Not the most romantic atmosphere.

Regardless, their date had gone well. They had fun and kissed sometimes over the table, with an audience decent enough not to stare at them openly the whole time. They had to hurry a little on the way home in order to get at least not completely drenched, but Dick had huddled close to him the entire way for warmth, so he enjoyed that too.

Nobody had called. Nobody was dead. There was no alien invasion going on. The earth was still turning. Roy almost couldn't believe his luck.

Okay. All the candles were burning. Condoms and lube were on his drawer. He hadn't touched any alcohol in days (gotta follow Batman's rules as best as you can, if you made a mistake he'd find out and hold it against you for the rest of your life. Especially when it concerned Dick). Now the only thing missing was-

"Wow. I gotta admit, these candles do make a nice atmosphere." Dick stood in the doorframe, smirk plastered on his face and gloriously shirtless. The towel he'd used to dry himself was still hanging over his shoulder. Roy smirked back. "See? Candles are great. They make everything seem beautiful, even my half-cleaned bedroom." His boyfriend chuckled at that. Candles also had the very practical use of stopping you from having to grab around cluelessly in the dark, while still not making you feel overexposed like a bright lit room would.

"You should still dry yourself off. You're gonna catch a cold if you keep running around in that wet sweater." The archer just smirked. "Oh? So eager to have me take off my clothes?" Roy pressed a kiss on his boyfriend's lips, pulling him closer. "Well, that would only be fair, wouldn't it?"

There weren't much more words spoken as they fell together on the bed that night. It wasn't perfect, with lots of fumbling and some awkward moments. But to them, it didn't matter. Like everything they'd done, it wasn't just physical. It was the feeling of trust, safety and belonging that would wash over those imperfections in their memory and make these few moments of pure bliss what they should be - perfect.

* * *

"Happy Birthday!" Dick blinked a few times. The last thing he'd expected when Bruce had ordered him home on his birthday was this. The whole entrance hall of Wayne manor was decorated with balloons and bright colors and basically anything else Bruce hated and forbade him from having on his other birthdays.

But even though he was there, judging by his facial expression, he hadn't been the one in charge of decorations. He also (probably) hadn't taken part in the joyful declaration upon his entrance. But luckily, there were enough other guests to make up for it.

Everyone from the team who knew his secret identity was there. Being the fastest, Wally was the first to hug and personally congratulate him, as well as pulling him inside so they could start the party. There was music, cake, drinks - even some alcoholic ones for a cheers in the beginning, that were closely watched by Alfred (a horde of drunken teenagers was the last thing the elderly butler would ever allow in the manor) - and of course, presents.

Bruce had gotten him a bike. A black bike with the Nightwing symbol on it and all kinds of cool gadgets included that he'd have to try out later. His mentor didn't say anything about it, only handing him a manual, but according to Alfred, Bruce mostly developed and built it by himself. He even accepted the thank you hug in front of everyone.

Alfred provided the cakes - no one else was allowed to bring one - but he also presented him with a classical music collection to hear when he needed to relax. Tim - still with sunglasses on - gave him a self-made collage of photos and articles that were all Nightwing-related, apologizing he couldn't think of anything more personal. Dick couldn't wait until Bruce deemed him ready with training so he could properly introduce this adorable boy as the new Robin and a new little brother to the team.

Barbara - also still with sunglasses - provided him with a photo album of his friends at his old school who'd all paid a little and bought him a gift card for a comic book store. He got sunglasses with the bat symbol from Wally, a magic-enhanced TV remote that would float to him at his command from Zatanna (he gave her an extra-tight hug for that, so amazing), two tickets to a circus show from Artemis and Raquel, a DVD with the whole second season of Sherlock from Kaldur, a cereal mug with the Nightwing symbol from Billy and a book with baking recipes from M'gann along with metal bent into superhero symbol shapes (Nightwing included, of course) by Kon, so he could make superhero cookies.

Dick made sure to hug everyone. He hadn't even gotten a single present he didn't want at all, because they all knew him so well. Friends were an amazing thing to have. He made a note to himself to tell them more often how much he appreciated them.

The last one to give him his present was Roy. It was a little pendant. A blue bird that resembled the Nightwing symbol, but was way more detailed than the stylized version on his costume with a red arrow. But the peak of the arrow was above the bird's left wing and pointed in the same direction as the bird's beak, so it didn't look like the bird would get hit by the arrow, but rather that they were carried by the same wind, aiming for the same destination.

The acrobat had no idea how his boyfriend could have possibly gotten this. It was too specifically them to just be a lucky find in a shop and it didn't look handmade, either. Crafting beautiful things had never been Roy's specialty. Dangerous things, maybe. But there was no way he made that himself. Meaning he probably went through a lot of trouble and/or paid way too much money for this.

Roy got a long and passionate kiss in return. And the honor of the first dance with Dick, once everyone was stuffed with Alfred's awesome cake.

Of course, he couldn't claim Dick the whole time. He had to dance with Babs too, and even Wally was insisting - even though it would have been an insult to everyone who took pride in their dancing skills to actually call that dancing, it was more like hopping around roughly in time with the rhythm while shouting the parts of the lyrics they knew and laughing the rest of the time.

He fulfilled his duty as a big brother too, showing Tim how to dance at parties, because it was totally different from the dancing at the charity balls his parents dragged him to. And M'gann was nice enough to shift down to his size so they could properly dance together. The slow songs were obviously reserved to Roy, though.

When everyone else had already gone home, the two of them laid together in Dick's bed, cuddling together satisfied, but tired. Dick pressed a chaste kiss to his boyfriend's lips. "Thanks. Today was really great." Roy huffed, a little embarrassed. "Well, if you tell me you don't plan on actually celebrating your sixteenth birthday, of course I have to take care of it myself. And the girls and Alfred did most of the work, anyway, I just started it."

It didn't really matter to Dick though, as he began drifting to sleep in Roy's arms. He had a great family, great friends and a great boyfriend. If this was supposed to be his happily ever after, he sure as hell wouldn't complain.

* * *

I _could _end this here. But I won't. I'm not that nice. :D


End file.
